Shadows
by Jenny70529
Summary: Sequel to Denial. Warrick and Catherine adjust to the new addition in their life, Nick and Sara rebuild their friendship. Greg's return causes upheavel on the newly settled graveyard shift.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer**: I still haven't bought them yet, I'm saving...maybe in the next fifty years or so I can put a down payment...

**Author's Notes:** Here's the sequel to "Denial", which was a sequel to "Jealousy" and "Remorse".

This chapter focuses on Sara and Nick, and Warrick and Catherine. Greg will be added in the next chapter, as will the main plot of this story. This chapter is just them being happy before I throw another curveball at them.

Thank you for everyone who has supported my past stories, and for those still reading. I enjoyed everyone's comments at the end of Denial, and I'd love feedback over the start of Shadows...Replies make the chapters come faster. :-)

This is a little cheery and unusual for me, I like to throw at least a semi-cliffhanger at the end usually, but I've had such a long week at work that I wanted to write something happy for once. Don't expect the cheeriness to last too long, because I've got big plans for ourfavorite CSIs.Besides, I'm channeling all of my stressful thoughts towards my other fic"Deviance" at the moment, and I'mworking on a casefile story, because we had the _most interesting_ accidental death (although originally it was thought to be a homicide) come across our autopsy table this week, and I think it could make a heck of a story.

_Jenny_

**Shadows:**

"I could stay like this forever." Nick said with a smirk, looking over at Sara, who was struggling to keep a straight face.

Sara's self control lapsed, and she collapsed into a fit of giggles as she took in the sight before her.

It was her fault, she supposed, since she had been the one to bring up her new exercise routine. Nick had been quick to assume she joined a new gym or started running again, a practice she had stopped after the hit-and-run six months earlier. She had surprised him by presenting a book on Yoga, and after she began bragging about her toned muscles, before kicking his butt at a jog-turned-race around the block and a quick game of basketball, he decided to give it a try.

He had to admit, it wasn't the toned muscles he was interested in, it was the image of Sara in a leotard. He had been disappointed to find her in a pair of drawstring pants, although the sport-bra-style top was a nice addition to the outfit.

She had showed him a few easy moves, well, they were easy when she did them. Sitting with his legs crossed didn't seem like such a big deal, until she showed him how to pull his feet up and lay his knees flat on the ground in a Lotus position. The excruciating pain that ran from his cramped toes to his spine had caused him to give a surprised yell of pain, and earned him a hearty laugh from the experienced Sara.

"It's not so easy, is it Nicky?" She teased playfully, gently pushing on his knees to send them towards the floor again, "Are you going to make fun of me again? Now do you believe this is a real workout?"

Nick straightened out his legs, dropping his torso back to the floor and resting his head on his bent arms, "More like some kind of ancient torture."

"It's a form of meditation, it's very soothing and healthy." Sara countered, "It's just not working for you because you don't want it to work."

Nick rolled his eyes, "Sure, that's it. I didn't know the hippie in you went past your vegetarianism, I guess I learn something new every day."

"You're just jealous because you can't do it." Sara teased with a grin.

Nick raised his eyebrows, "Why don't we try something that's real exercise?"

"Oh, so you want to have a rematch on our race?" Sara suggested, taking a long sip from her bottle of water, "How about swimming laps? Face it Nick," she said with a laugh, "I'm just in better shape than you are."

"I'm in great shape." Nick replied defensively, taking the bottle from her and putting it to his lips, ignoring her frown at his actions.

Sara's face broke into a huge smile as she teased, "Have you put on some weight, Nicky?"

"Shut up, Sara." Nick replied, pushing her gently as he slid on his shoes, "Seven mile track--here to the lab, and back--whoever loses has to be the other one's slave for a day...no, two days."

Sara rolled her eyes, "What are you, twelve?"

"Are you scared?" Nick countered, laughing as she hit him with the closed water bottle, "I'll even give you a head start, since you're a girl and all."

Sara tied the laces of her running shoes, giving Nick a mean glare, "I don't need a head start, I can beat you fair and square."

"Let's go, then." Nick said, waiting for her to follow him outside the apartment. Once they reached the ground, Sara jogged in place for a few seconds, trying to warm up slightly and loosen her muscles a little more, "Ready?"

"On three." Nick said, flashing Sara a big smile. "One, two--" He broke off as she sprinted into a run, her laughter filling the air, "Cheater!" he called after her, quickly running to catch up to her, unwilling to be defeated again.

He hadn't feel this calm and relaxed in over a year. Gone were his nightmares about his sisters, his family, their declining prison system, and in it's place was hope for the future.

He had been so sad and angry after Jessica's trial, and it hadn't taken long to find a friend in Sara. Jessica had refused visits from her entire family, Nick wasn't sure if it was because she was depressed, ashamed, trying to adjust, or what her reasoning was, but it had upset him terribly. Sara had been there for him to talk to, she listened to him and gave him advice, comforted him when he needed a shoulder to cry on. In return, he did the same for her when she was feeling exceptionally upset about Greg and needed a friend.

It had taken awhile to build back the trust that had somehow been destroyed in their relationship, but the more they worked together, the more they talked, they were now in the tight relationship they had once been in, when their lives were much simpler.

He sped up once he realized he had been slightly left behind, and through his heavy panting, he started to accept the fact that he may, once again, be beaten. While he found it mildly humiliating to be beaten by a woman, one who was still going through physical therapy on her leg, he was glad it was Sara instead of Warrick taking the lead. Sara would stop pestering him about this, once she found some new ammunition, and Warrick would rag on him about this forever. Besides, Warrick wouldn't look that good in a sports bra.

* * *

Catherine nudged Warrick with her elbow, "Baby, it's your turn."

"I got up last time." Warrick mumbled sleepily, "It's your turn."

Catherine yawned, bringing a hand to her ear, "Oh, come on Warrick, your son is crying."

"Our son." Warrick corrected, groaning as he pulled himself out of bed, "Where's Lindsey?"

Catherine opened one eyes, sleepily replying, "At school. Will you please go feed him?"

"Yeah, yeah. Get some sleep, you deserve it." Warrick said as he sleepily made his way towards the door, his eyes tired and his posture slumped.

It seemed as though their nine week old son, Lyle, had inherited the same sleeping pattern as his parents. From the day he was born, no matter what Catherine and Warrick tried to teach him to do, he slept most of the day and was awake all night. It was nice for Warrick, who enjoyed getting some sleep during the day, and it was nice for both of them now that Catherine had started working again. For everyone else, especially their babysitter, it was a nightmare. Poor Christina was frazzled by the time they arrived home in the morning, and Lindsey was losing sleep from the fussy baby and his odd hours.

Then, of course, there was the argument over who would care for him when he did happen to wake during the day. Both Warrick and Catherine were beyond exhaustion, and neither one felt like they ever got a break from their constantly busy life.

Warrick walked into Lyle's bedroom, lifting the fussing baby into his arms, "Hey there, big guy. Are you hungry?"

Lyle's blue eyes stared curiously into Warrick's as Warrick carried him into the living room, setting him down on the couch as he unbuttoned his pajamas, "You need a new diaper, don't you kiddo?"

Warrick smiled down on his son, pride and warmth filling his heart every time he looked at the infant. It was so amazing, knowing that this child came from him and Catherine, that a part of each of them rested in this little, squirming body.

Warrick quickly changed Lyle's diaper and snapped his pajamas back up, cradling the baby in his arms as he walked over to the bassinet in the corner, "Okay, big guy, you're going to lay in here for a minute while I fix your bottle. I'll be right back, I promise."

When Catherine stumbled into the living room an hour later, resembling a zombie as she tried to wake up, she found father and son curled up together, asleep on the couch, an empty bottle on the coffee table.

* * *

"Cramp! Cramp! Wait! Not fair!" Nick yelled between gasps as he bent over, his left hand resting on his knee, his right rubbing his rib cage, "Oh, man, I am out of shape, aren't I?"

Sara's laughter rang through the air, "Stop being a baby and let's go! I need to be home in an hour, I've got to start packing."

"I can't believe you're going on vacation. Who are you and what have you done with Sara?" Nick teased, finally starting to catch his breath, "And to my home state, you're such a traitor."

Sara rolled her eyes, "It's only for the weekend, and I invited you to come."

"Oh, yeah, explain _that_ to Grissom." Nick said, rolling his eyes as well, "He'd hit the roof if we both decided to skip town. What are you going to be doing in Texas, anyway?"

Sara rolled her eyes, jogging in pace to keep her heart rate up, "I'm going to visit my brother, remember? He just bought a new place, he got a promotion at work, he wants me to come see how well he's done for himself."

"Can't he just send you pictures?" Nick teased, nudging her playfully to let her know he was kidding.

Sara started jogging alongside Nick, trying to slow herself down to keep his pace, "Ryan's had to go through a lot to get where he is today, he's proud of his accomplishments, he wants me to see for myself what he's made of his life. He knew I was disappointed with what he had become, and he's trying to show me he got back on track. It's a big deal to him."

"You've never talked about him." Nick noted, panting as he tried to keep up with Sara, who was now starting to pass him up a bit.

Sara shrugged, "There was never really that much to say about him...he's come a long way recently. I've got to support him, otherwise he may slip up again."

"I know how hard it is to support someone when you think they've messed up so much in the past, especially when it's a sibling, and I don't know what kind of advice to give you about it, other than just to remember that he's trying his best, otherwise he'd be hiding from you," They were now walking, "But I can give you some advice about Texas, dress for very, very warm weather. It's probably topping off around 100 in Houston right now."

Sara motioned to the area around them, "And this is?"

"Dry heat, not the same. Trust me, you will not be wearing pants in Houston, you'll be so hot you'll want to peel the skin off of your body, just to cool down." Nick advised seriously, "Believe you me, this is a picnic compared to what it's going to feel like there."

Sara picked up her pace again, fighting off the fatigue that always seemed to set in on the last mile of her run, "Nothing like a weather horror story to make me not want to go anymore. Thanks Nick."

"You're welcome." Nick replied in a tone as equally sarcastic as the one she had just used for him. "Anytime."

Sara rolled her eyes, picking up her pace once more as she realized how close they were to her apartment. Suddenly, the air conditioning sounded like the most wonderful invention in the history of mankind. She was starting to dread this trip more and more as she thought of it. Not only was she going to see her brother whom she hadn't seen in years, she was leaving her best friend behind to do so. Who would she talk to about Ryan? Who would she pick on? Bitch about the heat to? Exercise with? Laugh with? Suddenly, a weekend seemed like a very, very long time.

* * *

Catherine lifted Lyle into her arms, cradling him gently against her nude skin. She had a bad habit of sleeping in just her underwear, and while Lindsey was home, she managed to dress before leaving her bedroom, when it was just her and Warrick, she never bothered. Now, with a baby in the house, she supposed it was time to start dressing once more.

Lyle turned his cheek to rest on Catherine's arm, and she stroked his tiny head gently, a radiant smile on her face. The minimal hours of sleep, the crying, the headaches, the pain of childbirth...it was all completely worth it.

She laid the sleeping baby in his crib, covering him gently with a blanket, even though all of the baby books told her that was a bad idea. She had covered Lindsey with a blanket, as well, and she turned out just fine. After making sure Lyle was going to remain asleep, Catherine crept back into the living room and covered Warrick with a blanket from the back of the couch. He shifted slightly, but didn't awaken.

With a smile, Catherine walked to the fridge, taking a sip of water and putting it back on the top shelf. She walked into her bedroom, glancing at the clock. Lindsey would be home soon...she slipped into a pair of pajamas and fell back onto her bed, releasing a huge sigh of relief. She had a few more hours before she had to be to work, and Lyle was guaranteed another 3 or 4 hours of sleep before he was hungry again. Warrick was in the living room, and she had the bed all to herself. Wrapping herself up completely in the comforter, she began to drift back into her much needed sleep.

She hadn't had a chance to really fall asleep yet when her cell phone shrilly rang, jolting her back to the conscious world.

"Willows."

"_It's Grissom, I've got a hot case, Swing and Days are understaffed, so it's been passed to me. I need you or Warrick here, ASAP. I've called in Nick, and Sara's already on a plane out of town. I know both of you can't leave until you can get a babysitter in, but I need one of you to meet me at Mandalay Bay."_

"Damn it, Gris." Catherine sighed tiredly, rubbing her eyes, "I'll be there in half an hour, okay?"

"_Thanks Cath, you're the best."_

"Damn right I am." Catherine grumbled as she began to stretch, yawning widely, "But I'm leaving early as compensation, you hear me?"

"_Loud and clear, Cath, Loud and clear. Thank you."_

Catherine rolled her eyes, "What, did you expect me to tell you know? See you soon."

Hanging up, she rubbed her eyes and stretched once more, stumbling to the closet to find something to wear that didn't need to be ironed.

As she began to dress, Lyle began to cry from his crib. She leaned her head out of the door, "Warrick! Lyle's up and Grissom just called me in...take him or go to work!"

Warrick appeared in their bedroom moments later with a once-again wide-awake Lyle Brown, "Have fun at work, sweetie." Warrick said with a smile, giving her a peck on the cheek. He looked down at Lyle, "Tell Mommy bye. Say 'Mommy, you go mess with those wacky criminals and icky evidence, and Daddy's going to play with me all afternoon'."

Catherine rolled her eyes, "Remind me again why I love you?"

"My irresistible charm? My stunning intelligence? My beauty, inner and outer?"

Catherine winked at him, kissing Lyle on the forehead as he passed, "Nah, it was your ability to create beautiful children."

"So you were using me?" Warrick said, his tone playfully hurt.

Catherine ran a brush through her hair, deciding to pull it into a ponytail, "Oh, yeah, just for the baby making parts. That's why we're getting married." she replied sarcastically, "I've got my cell if you need anything, don't forget to feed him at 8:00, and Christina will be here at a quarter past nine. Lindsey is punished from TV and video games until she pulls her grades up, so don't let her hang out in the living room if you're watching TV. Her homework gets done before she gets a snack, and don't let her pig out on junk food."

Warrick rolled his eyes, "Cath, it's not my first time, and I'm not a 13 year old girl who's babysitting, I'm going to be her step-dad in a few months, I know how this routine works."

"Oh, so I don't have to pay you 4 dollars an hour?" Catherine quipped as he put some lipstick on, "Or order you a pizza?"

Warrick grinned, "Now, that's negotiable."

"Bye honey, see you later."

"Bye."

Catherine rushed out of the room, suddenly wide awake, and Warrick looked down at Lyle, "Well, big guy, it's just the two of us. What do you want to do?"

Lyle let out a big yawn, and Warrick laid the baby down on the bed, laying beside him, "Now that seems like a good idea, you're the smartest baby I've ever met."

Within 15 minutes, father and son were both once again fast asleep.

_TBC...Let me know what you think!...Enjoy the happiness while it lasts, because the storm clouds are rolling in quickly._


	2. Chapter 2

**Author's Notes: **Hello again, time for chapter two! This one's a little shorter, I'm swamped with work this week. Our night manager's mother was in a very bad accident this weekend, so I'm covering his shift, and I haven't had much of a chance to write. I hope to have another chapter out by this weekend, if I get a good response on this one. It starts off dramatic, and ends with a little comic relief. As you'll probably gather, the next few chapters will be about Greg and Sara, and Catherine's new case...both will be major plots for this story.

Thank you for everyone who replied to chapter one, I enjoy hearing from all of you, so feel free to leave another reply. Lol.

_Jenny_

**Two:**

"Sara! Over here!"

Sara turned towards the familiar voice, flashing Ryan an apprehensive smile. He looked a lot better than the last time she had seen him, of course, he was in a business suit instead of an orange jumpsuit, which was always an improvement.

Ryan walked towards her, pulling her bag off of her shoulder and setting it at her feet, wrapping his arms around her and pulling her in for a tight hug, "Oh, Sar, I've missed you so much. Look at you! You've grown up since the last time I saw you."

"15 years have passed, I'd hope so!" Sara joked, "Look at you! My brother, owning his own business! Who would have thought?"

Ryan pulled away, looking at her from head to toe, "Who would know you were in a car accident a few months ago? You look perfect, just like I remembered you."

"Oh, and here I was thinking you wouldn't remember a single thing because of the drugs." Sara replied dryly. She saw the brief look of hurt pass through his features and she shook her head sadly, "Look, I'm sorry, I didn't think before I spoke--"

Ryan shook his head, "No, it's okay. You're right, that whole year was a little fuzzy to me, but I do remember you, Sara. I never forgot about you."

"Neither did I." Sara replied sadly, picking up her bag, "Let's get out of here and start catching up."

"Sounds like a plan, I'll need to run by the office real quick, I forgot some paperwork on my desk, but after that I'm all yours." Ryan agreed, taking the bag from her, "I made us reservations for dinner, I hope you don't mind going out."

Sara laughed, "Ry, I've tasted some of the things you've cooked in the past, and I'm not talking about your brownies. You're a terrible cook, I'd be delighted to go out."

"Haven't changed a bit, have you?" Ryan teased. "I'm so glad you decided to come, I know things have been hard between us--"

Sara shook her head, "That's in the past now, Ryan, let's just work on the future. Life's too short to waste holding grudges and trying to change what has already happened. We'll work on building a relationship now...after all, hasn't everyone always told us that we wouldn't be friendly until we were adults?"

"Come to think of it, I remember that phrase being spoken many times growing up." Ryan agreed, pointing to the parking lot, "See the green Trail Blazer? That one's mine. Just throw your luggage in the back seat and we'll get going. Wait until you meet my partner, he's so funny. You'll love him."

Sara forced a smile, already dreading the interaction. Sure, she loved Ryan, he was her brother, but meeting other corporate owners? That was never her cup of tea, when a businessman tells you his partner is funny, that usually is a recipe for a dull evening.

"So, tell me about this company of yours." Sara said as they pulled out of the parking lot, an awkward silence filling the SUV. "You didn't really go into much detail, except to stress that it was very legal."

Ryan smiled, his face beaming with obvious pride at his accomplishments, "It is very legal, and very useful. We're an independent contractor for DNA testing. We mostly do simple stuff like paternity testing, but sometimes we do third party testing when the courts feel prior testing has been compromised. You'd never imagine how popular DNA testing has become."

"Oh, I have an idea." Sara replied dryly, thinking of the never-ending work of their own DNA lab techs, "It sounds like a good idea."

"We're the only company who lets the average civilian request testing. The other facilities in the area only work with the Houston PD or the Harris County PD or Courts. It's boosted our business quite a bit, we've already doubled our competitions business in the last 4 months," Ryan bragged, "We're already planning on opening an office in the Dallas area, and possibly near Laredo."

There was another long pause, before Ryan asked, "So, how's work going for you?"

Sara sighed, "It's okay, I suppose...it's been really busy, and it's been tough for the last few months since we lost one of our team, but it's the same as always, I suppose. Crime never stops."

They rode in silence for awhile, until pulling into the parking lot of a three-floor building. "Here it is," Ryan said with a smile, "My home away from home. Come in and meet everybody, it's closing time, but there should still be a few stragglers around. I'll show you my office, then we can get out of here."

Sara got out of the car, following Ryan towards the building. "So far, so good." She joked as he pulled out his key card for the front door.

"We use electronic keys and fingerprinting for the entire building, to prevent any unauthorized people from tampering. All of our collections are done in the other wing, where we have a public entrance. From the collection site, there's a restricted access doorway that brings us to this area, where the actual testing is done. We have the newest equipment available, it nearly matches Quantico standards." Ryan said, ushering her in through the open doorway, "My office is upstairs on the left, we have a key entrance downstairs for the elevator, although upstairs you just have to push the button...we assume that anyone upstairs has already been cleared."

Sara shrugged, "Makes sense. You've got a really nice place here. I'm so proud of you."

"Thank you," Ryan said with a pleased smile, his eyes widening as he glanced down the hallway, "Look, there's my business partner now, I want you to meet him."

Sara stopped in her tracks, her face paling considerably as she blinked several times to make sure her eyes weren't deceiving her.

"Sara, this is Greg Sanders, Vice President and co-owner. Greg, this is my little sister, Sara Sidle." Ryan cheerfully greeted, oblivious to the icy chill that had settled in the hallway.

"Greg." Sara said weakly, her voice full of emotion, "Ryan, I'm sorry, I just..."

Unable to form a complete sentence, Sara rushed from the hallway and out the front door.

Greg watched as Sara ran in the other direction, the pain he was feeling evident on his face. He turned to Ryan, "We already knew each other...we used to work together in Vegas. I had no idea that was your sister, you don't have the same last name."

"I took the name of my adoptive family, Sara kept the family name." Ryan said slowly, "I'm guessing it wasn't a happy goodbye?"

Greg sighed, "Far from it, man, I need to go talk to her."

Without waiting for a response, Greg ran towards the door Sara had just exited. Of all people to show up in Houston...this wasn't going to be pretty.

* * *

Catherine stared at the photos spread out across the table, her stomach balling into tight knots as she reviewed the evidence she had collected from the crime scene.

Nick had gone to review the autopsy findings with Dr. Robbins, it was too painful for Catherine to even think of.

The photos were of Riley Taylor, the five month old victim of a horrible crime. The entire team knew it was her mother, seventeen year old Hannah Taylor, that had shaken her daughter to death, now they were just waiting on the proof before confronting the teenager.

Hannah Taylor had made the 911 call, calmly telling the operator that her daughter was not breathing and an ambulance needed to be dispatched. According to Hank Peddigrew and Charles Bailey, the two paramedics who arrived on the scene, little Riley was laying on the floor, discarded like yesterday's trash, and Hannah had been sitting on the porch, reading a magazine.

Her odd behavior, did not end there. When Hank had asked what happened, Hannah simply replied, "She was crying, then she stopped. What? I called 911."

While it was a horrible crime, sickening in it's own, what put it into "top priority" standards was Hannah's two slain parents in the next bedroom, Hannah's boyfriend seriously wounded in the kitchen, a knife still embedded deeply into his abdomen.

Catherine had taken it upon herself, despite Grissom's cold stares and quiet requests to stop, to handle young Riley, leaving Grissom and Nick to deal with the others.

Her only evidence? Photos of bruising on Riley's body, a floor mat covered in strawberry-banana baby food, a broken strap on the high chair, and blood samples collected from the bloody wound on the infant's arm.

Nick walked in, his face grim, as he laid some more photos on the table, "She had a diaper rash with weeping blisters, ringworm on her arms and legs, and bruising covering her entire body. Break patters on her arms are consistent with abuse. Grissom wants you off the case, having a new baby...he thinks you'll get emotionally involved."

"Who wouldn't get emotionally involved? She was an innocent, broken child. Who does this to their child? Any child? She wasn't even old enough to defend herself! How can people be so cruel?" Catherine shakily wiped a tear away, hoping Nick hadn't noticed, "You can let Grissom know that if he doesn't want me on this case, he needs to come in and fire me, because I'm not giving it up."

Nick, knowing when to keep his mouth shut, nodded and quietly walked back towards the door, "I'll page you when PD's ready to share Hannah Taylor with us."

Nick left Catherine alone with the photographs, and Catherine heavily sat down on a stool, trying to picture what had happened in her mind. According to the autopsy report, the parents had been dead less than an hour, Riley closer to five hours. Looking at the mess of pictures, Catherine closed her eyes and let them speak to her.

Hannah was a relatively new mother, young, and inexperienced around children. She was working 30 hours a week at the In and Out by their house, going to school, and raising her daughter. She was still in her work clothes when she was arrested, signaling that she had either not had an opportunity to change after her last shift or was on her way to work. Her thoughts flashed back to Lindsey at that age, and she suddenly was able to picture Riley leaned back in her high chair, thwarting Hannah's every effort to feed her.

According to the autopsy, she had fresh bruising on her legs and arms, probably from when Hannah was trying to restrain her. After the baby refuses to eat, all the time screaming from probable hunger, Hannah pushes her against the back of the chair, probably close to tears herself as she tries to get the infant to reason, although she is much to young to do so. After all efforts fail, Hannah grows angry and pulls Riley forcefully from her high chair, ripping the straps, and begins to violently shake her.

A few hours later, her parents come home to find the dead infant and the detached teenager. They panic, Hannah reacts by stabbing them so they don't expose her actions. Enter boyfriend, same scenario. Now, all she had to do was prove it.

The moment the page from Nick came through, she jumped to her feet and was out the door. No one should do this to their child, and she was going to make them pay.

* * *

Warrick handing Lyle to Lindsey, glancing at his watch, "Geez, I've got to get out of here. Where the hell is Christina?"

"Chris is never late." Lindsey said softly, patting Lyle's bottom gently and rocking him in her arms, "Maybe you're just early?"

Warrick rolled his eyes, "Don't be a smart aleck, I don't have the time for that. Where did Catherine say the phone number was again?"

"I could babysit, I'm 12, you know. I'd love to babysit Lyle until Chris gets here." Lindsey suggested with a hopeful expression, "I won't charge you much."

Exhaling loudly, Warrick searched for his pager and shoes, "First, you're too young to stay home alone, much less alone with Lyle. Second, when we do decide you're old enough to babysit, you're going to do it for free."

"Karen Carter gets paid to babysit her little sister." Lindsey whined, stomping her foot on the ground, looking down when Warrick's eyes flew to her, "Sorry."

Warrick slid on his shoes, glancing at his watch again, "I don't like your tone of voice, and I don't care what the Carter's let their daughter do. Besides, Karen is 15 and they live with her grandmother. She babysits with her grandmother in the house, it doesn't count. Besides, we buy you enough stuff, what do you need money for?"

"I don't know, just to do stuff?" Lindsey replied, sighing and rolling her eyes.

"What kind of stuff?" Warrick asked sharply, "What can a twelve year old who can't drive and has everything she asks for possibly need money for?"

Lindsey pushed Lyle back into Warrick's arms, "Stop talking to me like you're my Dad! You're _not_ my Dad, okay? Just go away and take that stupid baby with you!"

Lindsey stormed to her room, slamming the door and falling onto her bed, her sobs echoing through the entire apartment. Sighing, Warrick looked down at Lyle, who was watching the exchange with a curious look, "Women, big guy, don't even try to understand them, they'll just confuse you more. What do you think we should do about your big sister, huh? I think it's time for you to take a nap while I try and talk to her...she's definitely her mother's daughter."

He walked to the bassinet and laid Lyle down, "You be a good boy and get some sleep, everything's going to be just fine."

A few minutes later, Lindsey's nervous voice appeared in the hallway, "Um, Warrick?"

"What is it?" Warrick asked, turning around, "If you're here to have another temper tantrum, you may as well head right on back to your room."

Lindsey shook her head, "No...I...uh...I need to call Mom, she needs to come home."

"You can't bother your Mom when she's working. I'm here, what do you need? You can see her in the morning, she'll be home all day tomorrow." Warrick said, a frown on his face. Lindsey was old enough to know how Catherine's job worked, the hours involved. Something was definitely up, if only he could figure out what it was.

Lindsey shook her head, "I'm, uh, sick," her lips quivered as she fought tears that threatened to spill onto her cheeks, "Please Warrick, call Mom and tell her to come home. Chris didn't show up, and we need a babysitter, and I'm sick, she needs to come home."

Warrick's forehead wrinkled in concern. Her being ill would explain her bratty attitude this evening, and if Lindsey was sick, Catherine wouldn't want to leave her alone with a babysitter, unless it was something minor. Then again, what if this was just a ploy Lindsey was using to get some much needed attention? "You're sick? What hurts?"

"My stomach, and it hurts really, really bad." Lindsey insisted, "Please, Warrick, call Mom, I need Mom."

Warrick placed a hand on Lindsey's forehead, "You're not warm, do you want me to stay at home with you?"

"No!" Lindsey shrieked, her eyes widening with surprise, "Not you, I want my Mom," Seeing the hurt look on Warrick's face, she continued, "Besides, if I throw up or something you don't want to have to deal with that, right? That's what Mom's are for."

Warrick's eyes narrowed, "What's really going on?"

"I, uh," Lindsey stammered, before giving in and blurting out, "I think I just started my period."

Warrick's jaw dropped open as he searched for something to say in response. Mentally, he was not only kicking himself for asking her what was wrong, but for even being at home in the first place. As he reached for the cordless phone, he made a mental reminder to always choose work if Catherine gave him the option to go in early or handle the kids for the evening. Always, work. Never girls going through puberty. He cringed as the word puberty entered his mind...this was definitely Catherine's conversation, he wanted nothing to go with it. Maybe in another thirteen years, he'd explain it to Lyle, but for the moment, it was Catherine's turn to field these questions.

"Go, uh, I don't know, take a hot bath or something." Warrick managed to say, still having to search for his words, "I'll try to get Catherine on the phone."

Her face red with embarrassment, Lindsey nodded and fled the room, the bathroom door slamming moments later as her sobs once again filled the apartment's silence.

Looking down at Lyle, who was just dozing off, he whispered, "Didn't I tell you that it was impossible to try to understand them? Where's your mother when we need her?"

_TBC_


	3. Chapter 3

**Author's Notes**: I'm sorry for the long delay, it's been one of those very, very long weeks. Hopefully the next part will come sooner. Thank you to everyone who has replied, I appreciate what each of you have to say. :-)

As always, let me know what you think!

_Jenny_

_**Chapter Three:**_

"Willows." Catherine said curtly, answering her cell. She had been tempted to ignore the call, until she saw that it came from home. She looked at the clock, realizing Warrick should already be on his way in, and slightly panicked, thinking something was wrong with Lindsey or Lyle. The worry, however, was outweighed by anger once she thought of the teenager sitting in the interrogation room, staring into space like she didn't have a care in the world.

"_Cath, it's me." _

"Warrick? What's going on?" Catherine asked, annoyance evident in her voice, although she tried to hide it, "Is it the kids? Why aren't you at work?"

Catherine impatiently waited as Warrick heavily sighed, seemingly groping for the right words. She was about to tell him she was trying to work and to spit it out, but held her tongue as he began to speak.

"_Christina hasn't shown up yet, and while I was getting ready to leave, Lindsey...uh...became...ill?"_

Catherine's eyes narrowed at Warrick's obvious hesitation. What the heck was going on? Tapping her foot impatiently against the building's tile floor, she snapped in response, "What's with the uncertainty? She's either sick or she's not."

"_Well, she is...sort of. Look, you just need to come home and be with your daughter."_

"It's not like you aren't about to be her step-father, I'm on a hot case. Tell Grissom you're going to stay home with her, you'll do a great job." Catherine said, her tone icy, "I'm not the only parent in the house."

"_That's not what I said." _Another sigh. _"That's not even what I'm getting at. It's just...it's something she needs you for."_

"What can I do that you possibly can't?" Catherine asked, quickly going from mildly annoyed to very irritated, "What's wrong with her?"

"_She's...I don't know how to put this...becoming a woman?"_

"She's _what_?" Catherine gasped, nearly dropping the phone, "She's too young for that!"

"_Well, not really, obviously. She's asking for you, she's really freaked out. She needs you, Cath."_

Catherine sighed, knowing she needed to deal with this. It wouldn't be fair, although it would be amusing, to make Warrick answer Lindsey's questions and explain what was happening, "I'm with a suspect, I'll be there as soon as I'm done. You call Gris and tell him you'll be late, I'll let him know I'm leaving early."

Hanging up the phone, she let her hand rest on the doorknob. As much as she wanted to speak to Hannah Taylor, she wanted to talk to her daughter more. It would be so easy to let Nick handle the interrogation while she went home to do her motherly duties. With a resigned sigh, she turned the knob and pushed the door open. Lindsey needed her, but she would still be waiting when Catherine made it home. Riley Taylor, on the other hand, had only this last time to have someone stand up on her behalf.

"Miss Taylor, I'm Catherine Willows from the crime lab. I have a few questions for you..."

* * *

"Sara! Wait up! Sara!" Greg shouted, panting as he chased Sara down the sidewalk, "Please, just talk to me!"

Sara spun around, her eyes burning with anger, "Talk to you? Since when do you want to talk? Aren't you the one who abandoned all of us when we needed you? Do you even care what you've done to me? Don't you care about your friends that you left behind? Not one letter, not one postcard, not even a sign that you were alive. I've been worried sick about you! Do you have any idea what you put me through?"

"It wasn't easy on me either." Greg said defensively, blocking himself as she slammed onto his arm with her fist, "Hey, watch it there. Just because you're angry at the situation, you don't need to take it out on me."

"I'm not angry at the _situation_, you jerk, I'm angry at you!" Sara yelled, clenching her fists angrily, "You left me in the _hospital_, alone and hurt, with all of my friends hating me because of some stupid fight that you and Nick got into, and you didn't even tell me you were leaving. You supposedly loved me, and you didn't even bother to let me know where you were going, whether or not I should worry, if you were coming back."

"Love." Greg corrected her quietly, "Not loved, I still love you."

Sara shook her head angrily, "Well, you've got a freaking hilarious way of showing it, Sanders. I _loved_ you, and you abandoned me when I needed you. You ran away from your problems, instead of being a man and facing the situation, and I lost all respect for you. I don't want to have anything to do with you."

"You know that's not true." Greg said, grabbing her arm as she turned away, "You don't just stop loving someone, it's not a switch that you can flick on and off. I'm sorry I hurt you, okay? I thought I was doing the right thing, I was ruining everything."

Sara shook her head angrily, "You just don't get it, do you? Sure, you did some stupid stuff and made some wrong choices, but we all do that from time to time. When you left, you closed the door on all of your wrong moves, it's too late now to mend fences. Do you really think Warrick, Catherine, or Nick will forget that you left on bad terms? They never had a chance to let the anger fade away before you pulled this crap, it's going to be hell trying to rebuild that relationship. Do you have any idea how hard it was for Catherine to work towards the end of her pregnancy? Yet we didn't have another hand in there to help out, and when we were busy, she had to waddle into the field and get the job done."

She sat down on the curb, kicking gently at the loose rocks, "Do you even care if they had a boy or a girl? If he's healthy? What they named him? What about Nick? Do you care about his sister's verdict? How he's doing? How worried all three are about you? How worried I was? What's going on in my life? How can you claim to care so much for us and just abandon all of us without a word? You made a mistake, yes, but you should have just owned up to it. Instead, you put one more strain on all of us, one more that wasn't even necessary. We miss you, we all do. Even Hodges misses you, and that's saying a lot."

"I know I screwed up, big time." Greg said, sitting down next to her, "And maybe it was the wrong choice, but at the time it was either sink or swim, and I had to get away. I was going crazy, and if I wouldn't have left when I did, I don't know what would have happened to me...after the accident, I lost it Sara. I didn't know how to get myself back, I didn't know what I was doing, I was lost and miserable. I needed to get away to get myself back...I won't say that I handled it correctly, but I can't say that I'm sorry I did it. I missed you, all of you, like crazy, but now I'm back on my feet and ready to face the world again."

He took her hand in his own, surprised when she didn't pull away, "And I want to know...I want to know everything that's happened in the last 7 months. I've been dying to know, I think about all of you, especially you, every minute of every day. No offense, but your brother is so boring compared to you..."

"I...I don't know if I'm ready to talk to you, to have normal conversation. I'm still too angry...it's not a good idea right now. Besides, I'm tired from my flight, Ryan's probably waiting for me, and I just want to get settled in..." She sighed, "Tomorrow we'll meet for breakfast, okay? Give me a call in the morning, and we'll go from there. Tonight--tonight I just need to think about all of this."

Greg nodded, rising and helping pull Sara to her feet, "I can live with that."

"Just don't skip town, okay?" Sara said with a wry smile, only halfway joking. "I'll hunt you down if I don't hear from you by morning."

Greg nodded, motioning towards the building, "Come on, to get back inside, you'll need my access card," They walked back to the building in silence, Sara watching as Greg let himself into the building. He held the door open for her, giving her a small smile, "You're looking good, Sara."

"Thanks, Greg." Sara replied, giving him a sad smile as she turned away and walked towards the hallway she and her brother had been walking down when Greg had appeared, "See you in the morning."

"I can't wait." Greg whispered, sadly watching as she disappeared into Ryan's office, "Oh, I can't wait."

* * *

"So what exactly happened to your daughter, Miss Taylor?" Catherine asked, all thoughts and worries about Lindsey evaporating as the images of Riley Taylor flooded her mind.

Hannah shrugged her shoulders, inspecting her fingernails as she refused to meet Catherine's gaze, "Dunno. One minute she was fine, the next she was dead."

"And it took you 5 hours to call for an ambulance?" Catherine asked, disgust evident on her face, "Cut the crap, what actually happened?"

Hannah shrugged again, rolling her eyes, "What does it matter anyway? No matter what I say, you're going to throw me in jail. It don't matter if I killed her, or my Momma and Daddy, or Tommy, you still gonna throw me in jail."

"If you didn't do it, the evidence will show us who did. Your cooperation will just help speed the process up. If you _didn't_ kill them, I would think you'd want justice served for your little girl." Catherine countered, "Those are some interesting looking stains on your shirt. Can I have it?"

"Are you crazy? I'm not going to just give you my shirt!" Hannah said loudly, giving Catherine an incredulous look, "Take pictures or something, but you ain't getting it."

Catherine shrugged, "Have it your way, I'll just call up the judge and get a court order for it anyway. While we're waiting on that, we can discuss what happened."

"Whatever." Hannah replied, leaning back in her chair, "Look, here's the deal. She was crying while I was trying to feed her, I put her on the floor to play for a bit, I made some calls, and I came to check on her, and she wasn't breathing. I called 911--"

"How long did you wait before calling?" Catherine asked, "A minute? 5? An hour? 5?"

"I called right away!" Hannah yelled, slamming her fist on the table, "I already told the cop all of this. I called 911 as soon as I found her, maybe 10 minutes after I put her on the floor. There was nothing I could do. I didn't even know my parents and Tommy were in the house or dead."

Catherine slammed her own hands on the table, leaning forward, "Let me explain something to you. When you die, your body temperature slowly begins to decline. We tested your daughter's liver temp, and it shows she had been dead for 5 hours when paramedics arrived. You've got blood on your clothes, which probably match your parents and Tommy, and as soon as I get my court order, I'm going to prove it. Riley's high chair was broken, her food had been tossed on the floor, and there are hand sized bruises on her arms and legs, not to mention faded bruises on her entire body. You killed your daughter, why won't you just admit it and save us a lot of trouble?"

"Prove it."

Catherine's eyes narrowed, "Oh, believe me, I intend to." She turned towards Brass, who was tapping his pen against his notebook, obviously not intending to get involved at the moment, "She's all yours, send a copy of this interview to me, will you?"

"I'd be delighted." Brass replied, watching with a slightly worried expression as Catherine hurriedly left the room. Catherine was never one to bail early on an interrogation, especially one that had her blood boiling like this case seemed to be doing. Once alone, he turned his attention back to Hannah Taylor, "Why don't you tell us where you hid the knife used to stab your parents and boyfriend?"

* * *

Catherine walked into the apartment she and Warrick shared, giving her fiancé a quick kiss on the lips as they passed in the doorway, communicating through looks alone that they'd talk once the night was over. She moved towards the bassinet, where Lyle was sound asleep, a thin line of drool escaping his lips and running down his cheek, his eyes fluttering underneath the lids as he dreamed.

Covering him with a light blanket, covered in green frogs and yellow ducks, she made her way to Lindsey's room. She knocked on the shut door, frowning as she heard Lindsey's sniffles mixed with her new 'Green Day' CD on the other side. "Who is it?" Lindsey called out, her voice hoarse from the emotion of the day.

"It's me," Catherine said with a sigh, "Can I come in?"

Lindsey's door flew open, and before Catherine could make a move to enter, the blonde child threw herself into her mother's arms, "You came home!" she exclaimed in a surprised voice, "You really did come home."

"Didn't Warrick tell you he had called?" Catherine asked, pulling away and wiping a few tears from Lindsey's eyes, "I wouldn't abandon you when you need me like this, never."

Lindsey's eyes flooded with a fresh wave of tears as she sobbed, "I was so scared, I didn't know what was happening. I tried to call you, but your cell wasn't turned on or something and so I called Roslyn, because she started hers last month, and she talked to me like I was such a baby because I didn't know what was happening or what to do. I'm so glad you came home, Warrick told me you would, but sometimes you get so busy and forget or don't get time, and I'm just so glad you did."

"Sweetie, there's nothing to be scared of, it's a natural thing all girls go through," Catherine replied, leading Lindsey into her room and sitting down with her on the bed, "I stopped at the store to buy you some supplies of your own, since I'm sure you want something more for girls your age than mine. And I told Grissom I was taking the rest of the night off to be with you."

"Really?" Lindsey asked, wiping away her tears and noticing the bag Catherine had in one hand, "The whole night?"

Catherine pulled out her cell phone, "I turned my phone off and left my pager in my locker at work. I stopped at the video store and rented some movies, I bought us some junk food, and there's a pizza on it's way. Tonight is going to be a girls night in, with just the two of us."

"And Lyle," Lindsey said with a frown, "Mom, I may have said some really ugly things to Warrick and Lyle earlier."

Catherine pulled Lindsey in for another hug, stroking her hair gently, "Warrick understands, and Lyle doesn't know what you were saying to him. Tomorrow, you can apologize to Warrick and it will be like nothing happened. Believe me, from this point forward, you'll be saying a lot more things you don't mean a few days out of the month."

"Great." Lindsey replied dryly, rifling through the bag, "I'm going to put my pajamas on, and then we can watch a movie."

"Sounds like a plan," Catherine said brightly, rising to her feet, "It's going to be okay, Lindsey, it's just overwhelming the first time."

Lindsey nodded, "I've noticed."

Giving her daughter a smile, Catherine left the room, suddenly feeling a lot older than she had in a long, long time. Her baby girl was growing up faster than she had noticed...which meant that before she knew it, Lyle would be grown up as well.

* * *

Sara nervously strummed her fingers on the edge of the table, waiting for Greg to show up. Part of her was nervous that he had stood her up, although she knew she was a little early, and the other part was telling her that this was not a good idea. Back in Vegas, she had just started to move on without Greg in her life, and of course, he picked that moment to pop up again.

_IHOP_ wasn't very crowded for a Saturday morning, and the lack of customers had guaranteed the waitress to pass by her table once every moment or so, asking when her other party would be joining her.

Greg picked the perfect time to walk through the door, because if that perky blonde waitress had asked her one more time if she wanted to wait and order when her guest showed up, Sara was likely to reply with a nasty comeback.

He slid into the booth, his face showing the same apprehension she felt, "Have you been waiting long?"

"Seven months." Sara replied sadly, the words exiting her mouth before she had a chance to stop them. Seeing his sad look, she sighed, "Only about 10 minutes, I didn't know how long it would take to get here."

Greg nodded, "You never do with Houston traffic. Have you ordered?"

"I was waiting on you." Sara said quietly, taking a sip of her coffee, "How have you been?"

Greg sighed, nervously balling a napkin with his right hand, "It's been rough...I had a lot of unresolved issues I needed to work through. I handled a lot of it in New Orleans...that's when I called you, I thought I was going to be able to come back home. When I realized I couldn't face you, I figured it would be best to relocate rather than hold you back even longer until I got my head screwed on straight. It's only been in the last few weeks that I've grown comfortable with myself, my therapist is about to release me."

"We've missed you," Sara replied, "The day you left, they delivered the verdict on Nick's sister, guilty. I mean, we all knew it was coming, but for it actually to happen...Nick was so upset. She's refused his visits, she's just completely drawn away. He's needed friends to lean on...he misses you a lot."

Greg's eyebrows raised slightly, "I thought he'd want to beat the crap out of me."

"Oh, he does," Sara clarified, "But after that, he'd probably give you a huge hug. You mean a lot to us, Greg."

Greg shook his head, "Not after I put Catherine's baby in jeopardy."

"Their baby is fine," Sara said firmly, "They were scared for a bit, but he's as healthy and strong as an ox. He was born weighing just over 8 pounds, they named him Lyle Joseph. Catherine's water broke while she was working a case with Nick, it was only a few days before her due date, but Warrick was due in court and Grissom, believe it or not, was out with the flu, so she offered to fill in. Nick was freaking out, he called an ambulance, got Ecklie's team to cover the case, and just six hours later, Lyle came into the world," She sighed happily, "Warrick makes a great Dad, and Catherine's just beaming every time anyone mentions Lyle. They make great parents, even Lindsey's tickled pink to have a baby in the house. Catherine and Warrick are getting married in just over two months, it's going to be a beautiful wedding. They miss you too, you know. Warrick feels pretty guilty about whatever it was he told you at the hospital, Catherine wants to let you know she's not angry with you."

Greg leaned back, stunned, "So I didn't hurt the baby after all? I thought...the machines...the doctors..." He sighed heavily, "Oh, thank God I didn't kill their baby. Thank God he's okay."

They sat in silence for a few moments, until Greg asked quietly, "How about you? How have you been?"

Shaking her head, Sara replied, "It was hard. I missed you, I still miss you and you're sitting right in front of me. Why couldn't you have told me you were leaving? Why didn't you call? What kind of crazy idea was it to shut all of us out? We wanted to help you, Greg, I wanted to help you. I thought we had something special, and you just threw it away."

"I never meant to hurt you, I thought I was doing the right thing." Greg said quietly, taking her hand into his, "Please, forgive me."

"I can forgive you," Sara said, pulling her hand back, "But I don't know if I can forget what you've done."

Another tense silence was broken by their waitress, who took their order and promptly left, feeling the tension surrounding the booth.

"I want to make it up to you, just tell me how." Greg said softly, "Seeing you here, hearing your voice, talking to you...I miss you too, I want to make this right. I don't know what I've been waiting for. Anything you want, just tell me and I'll make it happen."

"I want you to come home."

_TBC_


	4. Chapter 4

**Author's Notes:** This is a short chapter, compared to my previous ones...I've been super busy with work and personal issues, and I've got a broken arm, which is making is exceptionally difficult to write. I'm hoping, though, to get a break from work tomorrow (since it's supposed to be my day off, although I'm on call) and then I can write some more. If not, maybe Sunday.

Thank you to all who have replied, I appreciate every single one of you! Please continue to let me know what you think, it increases my desire to write.

This one goes out to Emmithar, because she always manages to convince me to write, even when it's the last thing I want to do, not to mention all of the free advice she gives me, lol.

_Jenny_

Chapter Four:

_I want you to come home_.

Her request had been so simple, yet so complicated. He wanted, so badly, to just agree, tell her he'd take the next flight back and they could try to pick up where they had left off. Deep down, he knew it wasn't that simple, and the more he thought of it, the more uncertain he was that he'd even want to go back to Vegas.

He had grown up in Vegas, not in the physical sense, he was raised in California, but he had matured while living in Vegas, working with the only people he had ever been able to consider friends. He knew the day he left his parents home that he would never return. He had moved to Vegas with a degree in Chemistry, ACS certified, and found a job working with the Las Vegas Crime Lab, and had instantly known Vegas was his home. He had made a pact less than six months after moving to Sin City, that he would never leave.

Apparently, things change. Now Houston was his home, and even though his missed Las Vegas, his friends, his job...there was no way he could go back now. It would be too hard, he had hurt too many people. How could he go back to Catherine, Warrick, Nick, and Grissom and tell him that he was sorry for walking out, that he had left and made a wonderful life for himself, yet he was going to come back and stomp all over theirs once more?

Despite the apprehension he felt at the idea of facing them once more, he couldn't help wanting to please Sara. She had looked so hopeful once suggesting his return, and in return, he had shattered the little trust she had left for him.

Instead of telling her he'd think about it, or even saying 'yes' or 'no', he had remained silent, changing the subject after a few minutes of tense silence. He had watched as she reconstructed the wall she kept around herself, he had watched as the hurt disappeared from her eyes, replaced with a cold, hardened look she usually reserved for work. In those few moments, he had broken the final brick in the foundation of their friendship.

Even if he decided to go back, it would probably be too late.

He watched as it began to rain, leaning his head against the cool glass of his apartment window. Below him, people began to hurry off the streets under covered sidewalks or building entrances, headlights on cars flickering on like lightning bugs. He cursed softly as he realized he had left his car windows cracked to keep the heat from bring too unbearable once it was time for him to leave again. He grabbed his umbrella and keys, not wanting to let the water totally ruin the interior of his Acura, and opened his front door.

He never would have expected to find Sara on the other side, and as he ushered her in, he completely forgot about the open windows in his car.

* * *

"How was your weekend away?" Nick asked, pulling Sara in for a hug Monday evening, "You look like you got a bit of sun."

Sara smiled, "I went to their company softball game yesterday, it was a lot of fun. I enjoyed catching up with Ryan, and I learned some really surprising things."

"Such as?" Nick asked, pulling his vest from his locker, "You aren't going to move there, are you?"

Sara shook her head quickly, "No, of course not! But I did learn who Ryan's business partner is."

"Is it someone we know?" Nick asked, his forehead crinkling in concentration as he tried to think of anyone from his childhood had started a new business recently. Karen and his parents usually kept him pretty up to date with people from his past, and no one with any business skills, that he could remember, had stayed in Texas.

Sara nodded, "Oh, believe me, it's someone you know very well."

"It's me." Greg said, stepping from the shadows to reveal himself to a shocked Nick.

"What are you doing here?" Came three startled voices, one from Nick, and the others from Warrick and Catherine, who had just walked into the locker room.

Nick pushed Greg up against the locker, "You son of a bitch!" He yelled, his hands trembling with fury, "You think you can just waltz back in here, after--"

"Nick, Nick!" Sara said, pulling Nick's hands off of Greg, "Nicky, calm down...I brought him back. I ran into him in Houston, and I convinced him to come home."

Nick slammed his fist into a locker, not even noticing the small dent it made into the metal, "After all of this time? Now! I suppose you want your job back, right? And your girlfriend?"

"What Nick's trying to say," Catherine said softly from the doorway, her eyes still wide with surprise, "Is that we're surprised to see you back. I thought you didn't want anything to do with us?"

Sara shook her head, "Guys, lay off of him. It took a lot for him to come back, at least be civil."

"No, you know what?" Greg said, backing away from the group, "I shouldn't have come back, I'm sorry, let's just forget about it."

"No!" Sara exclaimed, grabbing Greg by the arm, "You promised to come, you have to stay."

Greg shook his head sadly, pulling his arm out of her grasp, "No, I promised I'd come and feel it out, I never said I'd stay. I told you this was a bad idea, Sara, I'm just going to go back to Houston," He turned to Nick, "And, no, I don't want my job back, or my girlfriend. I didn't expect you to all stop living just because I was gone."

He made a move to exit, but was stopped when Warrick reached out for him, "Hey, man, at least give it another try. After shift, let's all grab a bite to eat and just talk. We all owe it to each other to at least talk about everything that's happened, even if we can't resolve it."

Warrick looked to Catherine and Sara, who both nodded firmly, then to Nick who, after a few moments of hesitation, gave his own nod of approval. Seeing everyone else thought it was a good idea, Greg reluctantly agreed to meet them after shift. It may be a small step, but it could possibly be the first step to recovering his lost friendships.

* * *

"_What are you doing here?"_

"_I was in the neighborhood...okay, no I wasn't, but I wanted to let you know that I was serious earlier, when I asked you to come home."_

"_It's just not as easy as it sounds...I can't just pack up and move back to Vegas, I've got a job here, a life here. Las Vegas is the past."_

"_Then just come for a visit. Just consider it, Greg. The others would be so happy to see you. We've all been so worried about you."_

Okay, so maybe it wasn't the most cheerful reunion, but then again, Greg's departure hadn't been so cheerful itself.

The harder Sara tried to concentrate on getting her work done, the more impossible the task seemed to be. All she could picture was Greg sitting in her apartment, alone, contemplating his decision to come back to Las Vegas with her. The idea of him leaving again was so hard to bear, despite the apprehension she was feeling at the idea of them all having breakfast together. Why did things always have to be so hard?

She jumped when a hand was placed on her shoulder, and she spun around to come face to face with Nick, "Hey, I've been calling your name for 5 minutes."

"Sorry," Sara mumbled, looking down at the microscope she had been leaning over, trying to remember what she was looking at, "I was caught up in this...fiber."

Nick shook his head, flashing her a smile, "You were thinking about Greg, it's okay. We've all been thinking about him, this must be one of our most unproductive nights ever."

"It's just...I don't know how to feel. I want to be happy, but I'm also scared." Sara sighed, "It took a lot for him to decide to come back for awhile, I just want to make sure it was worth it."

Nick nodded, giving her a tight hug, "It's going to be hard, you loved him, Sara. It's not going to be like it was 7 months ago, a lot has changed since then," He pulled away, wiping a tear that had cascaded down her cheek, "Just remember to give him some space and not to expect too much, and don't worry about it. Whatever happens, happens."

"Thanks, I needed to hear that." Sara replied with a forced smile, motioning towards her microscope, "I really should do my analysis on this fiber."

Nick started walking towards the door, "Grissom just got back from the interrogation, so be on the look out for him, I'm sure he'll want to talk to you."

"Any luck on the case you and Catherine are working on?" Sara asked, relieved for the change of subject, "Kid is still proclaiming her innocence?"

Nick nodded, rolling his eyes, "If the DNA results come back positive, we've got enough to arrest her on four counts of murder."

"Four?"

"The boyfriend died this morning." Nick said solemnly, "She didn't even blink when we told her, it was as if she didn't care about him at all."

Sara shrugged, "People who can kill their parents and their child in cold blood often don't feel remorse and guilt like we do. If she didn't care that her baby was dead, why should her boyfriend be any different?"

A look of disgust passed over Nick's face as his eyes darkened, "I'll never understand how people can be so cruel."

"That's because you're one of the good guys," Sara said quietly, giving him a sad smile, "Keep an eye on Cath, okay? This case is starting to get to her, you can see it in her eyes."

Nick nodded, leaving Sara alone with her thoughts once more. Looking back through the microscope, her thoughts drifted to Greg once more.

"_Okay, I'll come, but I'm warning you, it won't be pretty."_

"_They're not as petty as you think they are, Greg. I'm sure they will all be happy to see you."_

"_I'm not so sure about that, but like I said, I'll come anyway. I'm not making any guarantees that I'll stay, but I'll give it a shot...now you can't say that I've never done anything for you."_

"_I would never say that to begin with."_

"_I know."_

She had been thrilled that he was coming home with her, it never occurred to her that Nick, Warrick, or Catherine would be angry, although she herself had been angry at first. After the confrontation in the locker room, she was starting to second guess her idea for him to try and rekindle the friendships he had abandoned months ago. Maybe he was right, maybe it was too late.

_TBC_


	5. Chapter 5

_Author's Notes: _Thank you to everyone who is still reading and who has replied so far. You guys are the best! Thanks for waiting patiently for this next chapter, hopefully this means that my writer's block is gone! Lol.

Special thanks to Emmithar, who helped me transform this from a pile of garbage to a decent chapter. You rock! You guys should thank her too, lol, because without her nagging me about this, it wouldn't be written tonight.

Please let me know what you think!

_Jenny_

**Five:**

"I just checked with Christina, and she says that Lyle slept through the night last night, which means he's going to be awake all day." Catherine groaned, leaning her head against Warrick's arm, "I forgot how tiring this 'new-parent' thing really is."

Sara smiled from across the table, "But he's so sweet that it equals out all of the bad things."

"Yeah, I'll take him for the day if you need a break," Nick said with a smile, "I missed watching my niece at this age, I love babies. Sara, you'll keep us company, right?"

Sara raised an eyebrow, turning her head to look at Nick, "You must have fallen on your head if you think I have any idea of how to take care of a baby."

"She struggles with Lindsey, and Lindsey practically watches herself." Catherine teased, "I don't know if I'd want to leave Lyle with her."

Sara's jaw dropped open and her head jerked back to Catherine's side of the table, "That is the most--"

"Relax, we know you're good with both Lindsey and Lyle," Warrick said, grinning at Sara, "At least, when someone else is around."

As the rest of the table laughed, Sara's face grew red with indignation, "What is this? Pick on Sara day?"

"It's your turn." Nick said through his laughter, "Relax, you know we're just playing around with you."

Warrick snickered, "Yeah, we know how you want to just 'play around' with her".

"Hey, now, it's 'Pick on Sara' day, not 'Pick on Nick' day." Nick warned, "If you want to start, I can easily finish it."

Catherine rolled her eyes, meeting Sara's amused expression, "Every time we get together, it's a testosterone battle."

"Warrick's just turning sissy because of that adorable little baby sleeping at home." Sara teased, ducking out of the way as Warrick's slice of toast went sailing for her head. "You know it's true, that's why you're proving yourself by being cruel to others."

"Proving myself, is that it?" Warrick retorted, "What do I need to prove myself for? I'm head-over-heels in love in love with a wonderful woman, I beautiful son and soon-to-be daughter, a fun and challenging job, what left is there?"

"Awww..." Sara sighed, smiling as she refilled her coffee cup, "You're so lucky, Catherine."

"Who said the woman he loves is Catherine?" Nick said jokingly, "It could be anyone."

The rest of the table rolled their eyes at Nick, who flashed them a sheepish grin, "What? It's true!"

"No wonder he's single." Catherine said to Sara, pointing her thumb towards Nick, "Can you imagine having to put up with his attempts at humor all the time?"

"His _pathetic_ attempts at humor." Warrick added, laughing as Nick's jaw dropped slightly, a faux-wounded look crossing his face.

Nick turned to Sara, "I thought we were all picking on you? How did I end up the butt of every comment?"

"That's what friends are for, Nicky." Sara teased, "Better you than me."

Catherine looked over her shoulder, towards the door, "Speaking of being the butt of every comment, where's Greg? He should of been here like half an hour ago."

"He's probably just running a few minutes late." Nick said with a halfhearted shrug.

Sara looked towards the door nervously, pulling out her cell phone, "I'll call to make sure he's left already."

"Yeah, it's hard to get used to these hours when you've gotten accustomed to being awake during the daylight." Warrick laughed, "He's going to be a zombie by the time he goes back to Texas."

Catherine raised an eyebrow as she turned to face Warrick, "Do you really think he's going to go back to Houston once he realizes how much he misses Las Vegas?"

"That's assuming that he misses Las Vegas." Nick reminded, "He didn't seem to thrilled to see us."

"Maybe if you had given him a chance to say hello before ripping his head off--" Sara began, but stopped when Catherine held up her hands. She fell back against the back of her chair dejectedly, unsure of whether or not to be angry with Greg for doing what he did, not to mention being late tonight, or to protect him from the angry jab in Nick's voice.

Catherine raised her hands, pulling them apart while saying, "Calm down, both of you. There will be no fighting at this table, understood?"

"Sorry." Sara muttered, exhaling loudly, a frown on her face.

Nick's lips curved into a small smirk, "Yes...Mom."

Catherine's eyes began to narrow, and Warrick laughed loudly, "Oh, now you've done it."

"You stay out of it!" Catherine hissed, her momentary outburst of anger fading rapidly as she looked at the three smiling faces sitting around the table, "Oh, it's not like I can help it, You'll understand when you have kids." She said, waving her finger at Sara and Nick.

They sat in silence for a moment before Warrick stood, stretching slightly, "I'm going to go order our breakfast...that toast isn't enough to fill up a frog, much less a table of adults. When Greg shows up, we'll just add his order on to ours."

"If Greg shows up." Nick muttered, unable to stop the words before they exited his mouth although he knew they'd get him in trouble from Sara.

Sara whipped around to face Nick, her eyes cold, "Can't you leave him alone for just five minutes? What, are you jealous or something? Can't you find someone else to pick on?"

"Well, you did tell him you didn't want to be picked on." Catherine said lightly, trying to ease the mood a bit, but seeing it was impossible as Sara's glare shot to Catherine's direction, "Don't you give me that look."

Sara sighed, slamming her purse down on the table and standing, "I'm going to just head home. Greg obviously isn't going to show up and it's been a long night."

"Be careful." Catherine said softly, knowing when not to push the younger woman. This was definitely one of those times to just leave her alone. She gave Nick and Warrick stern looks, hoping they'd keep their mouths shut.

"Bye Sar." Warrick said as Sara brushed past him, her shoes slamming angrily against the tile, "Hey! Be careful, you're leaving stomp-marks on the tile!"

His response was a certain finger lifted in a silent gesture.

Warrick motioned towards the counter, "I know this breakfast sort of stinks, but I'm starving. What do you guys want?"

"You know, I really should go check on Sara." Nick sighed, standing and shooting a worried look towards the door, "I don't want her to be alone if Greg's pulled another stunt like his last disappearing act."

Catherine shook her head, "Nicky," She warned, "Don't push her with this anti-Greg kick you're on, you'll just drive her farther away."

"I know what I'm doing." Nick said over his shoulder, as he made his way towards the door.

"Anytime a man says he knows what he's doing, he's just setting the stage for a major disaster."

"That's not true!" Warrick exclaimed, turning to face Catherine, who rolled her eyes in response. Shrugging his shoulders, he sighed, "Okay, it's a little true."

Seeing Catherine's disbelieving look, he sat back down across from her, "Okay, it's very true."

* * *

Sara walked into her apartment, setting her keys down on the counter and calling out, "Greg? Are you here? Greg?"

The apartment was quiet in response, and Sara sighed worriedly, flipping on the kitchen light. She had driven the route Greg had been most likely to take on his way to the diner, and there hadn't been any accidents, so it was unlikely he was hurt. She had even called the PD and local hospitals to see , but there had been no luck finding Greg at either. That left one other possibility, one she was not willing to face...he had left. _Again. _

She had known it was too good to be true. She had never been able to find happiness easily, and this was just going to prove it once again. Finding him in Houston, so easily, after wallowing in misery for months? Having him agree to come back with her without having to get on her hands and knees and beg? All of it was too easy, the walls were bound to come crashing down sooner or later. She had hoped for later.

Could he really be leaving her again? After all they had been through, all of the pain she had felt, the tears that had been her only companion through the dark, lonely nights? How could he just pick up and leave again, without as much as a 'goodbye'?

Since he had left, only the echo of her voice broke the silence of her lonely apartment during the dark, quiet hours where she needed his presence more than ever.

She finally received the second chance she had been dreaming of, and how he was nowhere to be found. Could she had dreamed up the last couple of days? Could it had been a figment of her overactive imagination? Shaking her head sadly, she knew it couldn't be true. If her imagination was that convincing, she'd still be hallucinating him in her apartment. The truth was, he had walked out on her again.

She went to the fridge to get a beer, but stopped when she spotted a piece of paper pinned to the fridge with a large magnet, Greg's handwriting sprawling out "Sara" on the outside. Her insides began to tremble slightly, dread sinking to the pit of her stomach like anchors to the bottom of the sea. If this was another letter like the one he had left her in his New Orleans hotel room, it would be the last thing she ever accepted from him.

With anxiety and apprehension filling her chest, she pulled the note out and began to read softly,

_Sara-_

_I know you're probably sick of getting these letters from me, and I don't blame you one bit. I'm getting sick of writing them. _

_I know you meant well by bringing me back here, you probably thought they'd be happy to see me. Now, I hope you see that you were wrong. It will never be like old times, I won't be reaccepted to the group with open arms and welcomed back by everyone I abandoned months ago. The confrontation in the locker room only proved my point. _

_I'm not sure where to go from here. I don't want you to spend your life waiting for me in case I am unable to return to Vegas, but I love you so much, I don't know if I can bring myself to fly back to Texas and leave you again. _

_I need some time to think before I face everyone. I'm sorry if I seem like I'm being a coward, but I'm just trying to make the right decision. When I have made up my mind, I will let you know what I'm going to do from here. _

_I have never stopped loving you, nor will I ever stop loving you. I have thought of you every day since I left, and I have missed you more than you will ever know. Please don't be upset with me, I just need some time. _

_Love, _

_Greg_

Folding the paper and placing it on the counter, Sara sank to the floor, sobs taking over her body as she grieved over Greg, again.

* * *

Greg took a swig of water, enjoying the cool relief it gave him as he slowed down his pace a bit, going from a steady run to a jog. Sliding the water back into his backpack, he focused on breathing deeply and trying to clear his mind. If nothing else worked, a long run usually helped him focus.

He stopped, jogging in place as he tried to fish out a new CD from his backpack, taking the completed _Incubus_ CD and replacing it with _Hoobstank_. It wasn't that he was really listening to the music, it was just noise to fill the silence that had taken over his life. The noise helped to distract him from the inner pain he was feeling, allowing him to focus on just the facts, much like when he was working with his stereo booming loudly.

He picked up the pace once more, trying to reason with himself, trying to decide what he wanted to do. He was starting to think it was impossible, he wasn't even sure of what his actual choices were, how could he make such a hard decision? He would have to talk to Sara, see where they stood, before he could even begin to make plans for the future. The thought frightened him to the core, how could he ask her if they could resume their relationship when he had cut her off completely for the last several months?

He had made it another few blocks, still trying to talk himself out of going back to Sara's to confront her, although he knew he had to do it. How was he supposed to talk to her about his fears and emotions if he wasn't even quite sure what he was feeling?

A familiar tune began to flow through his headphones, and Greg moaned, pulling his backpack back to the front as he once again began to jog in place. The last thing he needed to hear was _"Running Away"_. He replaced the CD with _Linkin Park_, hoping he had grabbed a CD that wouldn't stress his already troubled mind with more ironic songs. Why is it that whenever you already feel awful, everything you listen to just makes the feeling even worse?

Nearly a mile later, he tore the headphones off of his ears and threw them into his backpack, fed up with the entire music industry. "In the end, it _doesn't_ even matter." He mumbled, his feet angrily hitting the pavement, "We stay together, we drift apart...it all turns out the same way. We both get hurt in the long run."

Angry tears filled his eyes as he remembered everything he and Sara had been through over the last few years. Although he knew they had plenty of happy points in their relationship, all that he was able to remember was the

misery and heartache he had suffered as a result of their relationship.

And now, Nick was involved. As if they needed to have that fight again. He wasn't even sure if they were involved now or not. He wasn't sure of anything.

Of course, the only way to answer his questions would be to talk with Sara, and he couldn't do that if he was running in the opposite direction of her apartment.

With a new resolve to at least level with Sara and see what his chances were, he began to jog back in the direction of Sara's apartment, trying to ignore the uneasy feeling in the pit of his stomach. He had to focus on the positive and hope for the best; if he didn't face her now, he never would be able to summon up enough courage to do it again.

The closer he got to Sara's, the more uneasy he felt. He had a good reason for leaving, his mere presence had hurt so many people, he had done so much damage, how could he face these people after all this time had passed?

How could he look at Catherine and not see her in a hospital bed, hooked up to fetal monitors, doctors and nurses scrambling to save her son's life? How could he look at Nick and not feel like he betrayed his friend when he needed a friend the most? How could he look at Sara and not feel like the world's biggest jerk for leaving?

All of his worry, however, gave way to resentment and jealousy as he saw Nick's SUV in the parking lot of Sara's apartment complex.

* * *

Nick ushered Sara to the couch, worried by the fact that she had opened her door in tears, her eyes already red and swollen.

"What's wrong, Sar?" Nick asked, concern lacing his voice, "Do you want me to get you something? Water? Coffee?" Beer?"

Sara shook her head, trying to stop the tears that continued to stream down her cheeks. Sometimes, it felt like the tears would never stop, that she'd be feeling their warm, salty path on her face for eternity. She shut her eyes, trying to take calming breaths, but the end result wasn't much better than the start. Instead of steady tears, she was left with gasps for breath and shaking hands.

Nick's concern grew with each moment she remained unable to speak, his mind racing through a list of everything that could be wrong. Of course, the most obvious problem had to do with Greg, and that thought alone made him want to hunt the young man down and teach him a few lessons on how to treat a woman you supposedly love.

Other possibilities raged through his mind as well, varying from a death in the family to an accident with injuries he just couldn't see on her. Every possibility, however, was far-fetched, and he always seemed to end up at the one thing he knew could cause her to break down like this. Greg Sanders.

"He left," Sara whispered, "He left me a letter, he doesn't know what to do, he needs time. I'm losing him again. I can't lose him again, Nick, I can't. I'm not strong enough to do this again."

Nick wrapped an arm around her tightly pulling her close to his chest as she began to cry once more, her need to be comforted suppressing his urge to hunt down his former friend.

"You're the strongest person I know, Sara. You've gone through hell and back, and I know you can do it again. It's going to be hard, it always is, but you're a fighter. If Greg can't see you for the wonderful person you are, he doesn't deserve you," Nick whispered soothingly as he gently rubbed her back, "Any man would be lucky to have you, you could have any guy you want."

Sara pulled away from Nick, tears making her eyes glisten in the moonlight that streamed in from her window.

Looking back, he wasn't quite sure what he had been thinking, or if he had been thinking at all. All he could focus on was how beautiful she was, and how he wanted to make her feel special, show her how amazing she was, prove to her that she just hadn't found the right man to care about her.

Their lips had met in a brief, unexpected kiss, which had been instantly broken by a gasp from the doorway. Nick hadn't had to look up to see who was there, it was fate's cruel irony that Greg would show up at this one moment.

Sara sprang to her feet, her eyes wide and horrified, struggling to find the right words to tell the two men in her apartment. Before she was able to grasp the right words, however, Greg turned and fled from the apartment in silence.

Nick watched helplessly as Greg sprinted from the apartment, his face pale and shocked. He felt a wave of guilt wash through him as Sara's lip started to tremble and she took off after him, yelling for him to wait.

They say the road to hell is paved with good intentions, and Nick was definitely getting warmer by the day.

_TBC_


	6. Chapter 6

_Author's Notes:_ I still don't own them. :-) I did get a t-shirt for my birthday a few weeks back, so I own CSI _merchandise_.

After three re-writes, this chapter is finally complete...I can almost hear the hallelujah chorus now. Seriously, the Greg and Sara part of this story was so difficult for me to write while trying to keep the point of their fight, as well as their history, in mind. I hope I was able to do it justice in the long-run, the next one should be better. Lol. I hope it's easier to write, at least.

I'm in the process of moving, so I'm only crossing my fingers that I get a chapter out later this week/weekend. Next week should be a bit smoother, though, since I have to be out of my apartment by Monday. Yay, I'll cut my driving time to work down by half an hour! With the price of gas, that's the biggest advantage of moving, besides the fact that they were raising our rent prices 40 dollars.

Enough rambling, I'm just cheery that I'm home and relaxed this early (7 pm, which is nearly a record for me)...

Happy reading, please reply!

_Jenny_

**Six:**

Catherine groaned as she heard Lyle's soft whimpers flow over the baby monitor, "Go to sleep Lyle, we just went to bed."

"He can't hear you." Warrick mumbled as he opened one eye to look at his frazzled fiancé, "Even if he could, when he's ready to wake up, he's ready to wake up. Just another day without sleep, I suppose."

Catherine moaned as Lyle whimpered once again, "If you're fishing for me to tell you to go ahead and sleep, that I'll take care of him, you're delusional. I'm so tired."

"Just hope he goes back to sleep." Warrick mumbled into his pillow, his eyes heavy, "I need some rest."

Catherine shut her eyes tightly, "I can't get up again." She breathed a sigh of relief as the whimpering stopped and the monitor was silent again. "Oh, thank you Lyle."

The moment of silence was short lived as a loud wail filled the room.

"Go get him, please."

"I got him yesterday."

"No you didn't, it's your turn."

Both Catherine and Warrick grew silent as the creaking door sounded over the baby monitor. Moments later, Lindsey's soft voice could be heard trying to soothe her baby brother.

"Lyle, you have to be quiet," Lindsey whispered, "Mommy and Daddy are sleeping, you don't want to wake them up. They just got home from work, they're tired."

Lyle's wails turned into whimpers once more as he recognized the familiar face and voice. Catherine listened as the sounds of sheets rustling filled the air, resisting the urge to go check on her two children and make sure Lindsey had the situation under control.

Lindsey picked up the baby, cradling him in her arms, whispering soothingly to him, "Go back to sleep, it's not time to wake up yet."

There was a few moments of silence, then the sound of a door shutting. Moments later, Catherine and Warrick's door flung open and Lindsey walked over to the bed, "Mom? Wake up...Mom?"

"What is it, Lindsey?" Catherine asked sleepily, her eyelids drooping, "Is something wrong?"

Lindsey nodded, "He needs a new diaper..and I'm not talking about the wet kind."

"Go get me a diaper and the wipes." Catherine murmured, taking the now-cooing Lyle into her arms, "Good morning, Lyle."

Despite the mind-numbing fatigue plaguing her body, Catherine couldn't help but smile at the boy nestled snugly in her arms, wanting nothing more than to be held closely and feel protected. "You know, if you wouldn't have messed your diaper, your big sister probably would have taught you how to play video games...or at least demonstrated. Then when you're old enough to play, you could have beaten Daddy right off the bat."

"Stop turning our child against me." Warrick mumbled from his side of the bed, earning a curious gaze from the infant.

Catherine smiled, tapping Warrick gently with her foot, "Someone heard his Daddy."

"Morning Lyle." Warrick groaned, sitting up and leaning towards the baby, "You missed your Daddy, didn't you. You don't want that mean old Mommy, you want to come with me."

Warrick took the baby from Catherine's arms, smiling as Lyle grabbed his thumb and squeezed it tightly. From Lyle's room, Lindsey called out, "Mom! I can't find the baby wipes!"

"Coming!" Catherine called back, standing with a long yawn. She felt her knees crack a bit as she staggered into the hallway, a dense fog of exhaustion filling her mind. "I think they're in the living room."

Lindsey, exhibiting more energy than Catherine had felt in years, quickly walked into the living room, giving a triumphant, "Found them!" once the wipes were located. "Can I put Lyle in his bouncy chair and bring him in my room?"

"Why don't you go warm him up a bottle instead. I'll feed him, and you can put him in his carrier in your room so he can take a nap. But I don't want you carrying him all over the place, okay? He can lay in his carrier while you watch TV, that's all." Catherine compromised, stifling another yawn, "He's still too little to be played with."

Lindsey rolled her eyes, "I know, I know. You've told me like a thousand times. Can I feed him?"

"If you come in my bedroom to do it, you can." Catherine agreed, welcoming the help, even if it was from her rambunctious daughter, "Thanks for helping out this morning."

Lindsey flashed Catherine a smile that read purely, 'I want something in return', then darted into the kitchen to make a bottle. Warrick, as if sensing the conversation in the living room, called out from the bedroom, "How much is this going to cost us?"

"I'm not sure yet," Catherine replied as she walked back into her bedroom, "But for helping without being asked? I'm sure it's not going to be pretty."

* * *

Sara ran down the stairs of her apartment complex two at a time, trying to catch up with Greg's disappearing form. She had no words to explain her actions, no excuse, valid or not, that would help erase the kiss she had just shared with Nick.

Her heart was shattering into thousands of sharp, painful splinters as she called after him, her voice breaking the silence of the night. She had thought he was gone, and now, because of her, he might actually be.

She finally caught up to him in a small park near her apartment, grabbing him by the arm and stopping him. She was panting for breath and earnestly sobbing although she couldn't care less who saw her uncaring of who saw her in this condition.

Above them, thunder began to loudly rumble, lighting streaking the sky with an unforgiving glow. Sara unconsciously shuddered, still vividly remembering the accident she had been involved in during a particularly ferocious storm a few years back. Forcing out the wave of dread that always seemed to encompass her with an approaching storm, she tried to quickly sort through her thoughts and feelings for the right thing to say to him.

"I don't want to do this right now." Greg said firmly, "I can't do this right now."

"For once, will you not be a coward and actually listen to what I have to say!" Sara yelled, suddenly angry by his apparent avoidance of the situation, "Do you ever face things head on, or is it just easier to run away with your tail between your legs?"

Greg spun around to face her, his eyes glowing with anger, his voice equally raised, "Don't you dare be angry at me! Not after what you've done, you don't have a right to be angry with me!"

"What I've done to you?" Sara yelled, one hand flying into the air in an angry gesture, "Are you insane? I haven't done anything to you! You left without a word, you forbid us to look for you. We had no idea if you were ever going to come back or not! Am I just supposed to sit in the dark, hoping you'd knock on my door one day? I'm sorry Greg, but life had to move on."

Greg shook his head, barely noticing as raindrops started to fall onto his head, mingling with the tears that were slowly starting to escape, "I thought you loved me, I thought you still had a place in your heart for me...and since I've been going, you've moved on with Nick? Nick? Of all people? You told me you wanted me to come home, you led me to believe we had a chance. Was that all a lie?"

"I am not _with_ Nick." Sara retorted, wrapping her arms around herself defensively, "I needed a friend, he was there. He's always been there for me, he's helped me stay sane these last few months. I thought you had left again, how was I supposed to know you'd be back? You took off, _again_, without a word to any of us. What the hell was I supposed to think!"

Greg laughed sarcastically, "Why are you lying to me? You practically had your tongue down his throat. I saw you, you can't deny that you are with him! Don't make me the bad guy here, Sara, I haven't done anything wrong!"

"I'm not with Nick! He's just a friend!" Sara retorted angrily, "Things may have gotten a bit out of hand, but we're still just friends."

Greg smirked, feeling himself growing out of control, but unable to stop himself, "So now you just make out with anyone you come across, is that it? Or is it only for those close friends you are too scared to cross the line with? The entire time we were dating, I can count on two hands how many times you kissed me like that!"

"It was a quick brush of the lips!" Sara yelled angrily, "I didn't have my tongue down his throat, I didn't even respond to him! Do you honestly think, if I wanted Nick, I'd be here _in the rain_ with you? What is your problem? Why are you pushing me away? What the hell are you so afraid of?"

For a moment, only silence filled the air around them. A burst of lighting filled the sky, followed quickly by a boom of thunder. Raindrops began to fall faster and harder, stinging their faces as they stood in the storm's path. As the sky lit up around them, Greg sank to his knees, covering his face with his hands as her questions slowly sank in.

His problem? They had moved on without him. He had taken away his own happiness because he thought he had done irreparable damage to their lives, and here they were, a close little family without him. He had been able to push them out of his mind when he was in Texas, he had been able to convince himself that he had forgotten all about Catherine, Warrick, and their baby he nearly killed. About Nick and the way he tossed their friendship like yesterday's trash. About Sara, who he left in a hospital bed with no knowledge of what was going on in the people's lives around her. All of this time, he had been denying there was a problem, allowing it to grow stronger and larger in the back of his mind until now he couldn't even look in the mirror without being disgusted by what he saw. And while he was fighting all of the demons inside his own mind, they were supporting each other and moving on. Moving on without him. How the hell could she expect him to not have a problem? To act like nothing had changed? To watch happy little Nick take his place in Sara's life?

Sure, maybe he was pushing her away. He had blown off breakfast with the group, afraid of their reactions. He had been shaken up by the confrontation at the lab, Nick's reaction to him had only reinforced his belief that they all still hated him for leaving, for the reasons that prompted him to leave. Maybe that hatred was justified, but even if it was, Greg didn't have the strength it took to face it right now. Maybe, if they had been at least happy to see he was alive, it would have been different. But to see their faces, still showing that hint of distrust, anger, and disappointment left a sour taste in his mouth, a heavy weight in his stomach. He couldn't face these people, not after what he had done.

And what was he afraid of? That was the question of the day. What was he afraid of? Why should he care if they loved him or hated him? Missed him or relished in his departure? Felt sorry for him or still felt angry? Why should it matter? What did he have to prove to these people? Why was their opinion so important?

If he could only answer these questions, maybe they'd make some progress with this talk. For now, however, all he could manage to do was release the tears he had been storing inside for months. He knew he had left them all in terrible situations, and they managed to pull through with flying colors. Why couldn't he do the same? What was wrong with him?

Once the tears started, he couldn't seem to get them to stop. He was vaguely aware of the rain beating down on his back as he curled into a tight ball, wanting to disappear beneath the soil, to wake up in his bed in Texas to find this all a dream. This was not the time to be breaking down, yet he couldn't control the flood of emotions that had washed over him.

Sara knelt down beside him, her eyes wide with surprise and fear as she studied the man in front of her, the man she thought she knew so well. Greg was always the light-hearted, playful, teasing one of the group, and here he was, breaking down right in front of her. She was never good at these sort of situations when they arose, but she was even worse when it was the person she loved crying loudly and gasping for air, engulfed in pain and turmoil that she didn't even know he was carrying.

She reached out to touch his arm, trying to ignore the stab of guilt and sadness that pierced her heart as he pulled away. Not wanting to give up, wanting to show she cared for him, she reached out once more, grasping him tightly enough to show she wasn't going to take no for an answer.

"Shh, Greg, I'm sorry I yelled at you. I had no idea--I'm so sorry." Sara whispered softly, tears coming to her own eyes as she stared at his worn features and defeated stance. For so long she had felt like she was the only one suffering from his disappearance, now she could see he felt just as awful about it as she had. "Greg, talk to me."

"How can you want me to talk to you?" Greg asked through his tears, "I've done nothing but let you down. I couldn't save you from that car, I left you while you were in the hospital without even saying goodbye. I nearly killed Catherine's baby, I abandoned the closest friends I've ever had. How can you sit here and tell me that _you're_ sorry? Do you have any idea how terrible that makes me feel? I don't deserve that, I don't deserve any of this. You shouldn't have even taken the time to talk to me in Houston, I'm only going to screw things up again."

He laughed dryly as he continued, "The worst part? Nothing will ever be the same again. I can pretend everything is great, I can try to make amends, but nothing's going to change the fact that everything's different now. Different because of me. Warrick was right, he was absolutely right. I destroy everything."

Tears started to fall down Greg's cheeks again, his breathing growing shallow as the events of the night he left came crashing back over him. Sara, sensing his growing panic, pulled him closer to her, relieved when he didn't pull away.

"It's okay," she told him, her voice barely audible over the roaring thunder, "It's okay, sh, just breathe. You're going to be fine," she whispered softly in his ear, rubbing his back while trying to support the majority of his weight. She was frightened, unsure of what caused him to start breaking down, and not wanting to further upset him.

After a few moments, his crying ceased and his breathing started to return to normal. Sara loosened her grip slightly, his trembling body unnerving after so many years of seeing him strong and relaxed.

"Greg?" She asked after a tense silence, "What did Warrick tell you?"

She held her breath in anticipation of his response, not knowing how the question would affect Greg's unstable mood. After a few moments of silence, Greg shook his head vehemently, "I don't want to talk about it."

"You can tell me anything, you know." Sara tried again, still stroking his back gently, "I'm a good listener."

Greg pulled away, sighing, "You wouldn't understand."

"Then make me understand." Sara insisted gently, rubbing his arms reassuringly, "I'm all yours."

_TBC_


	7. Chapter 7

_Author's Notes:_ Here you go, another chapter straight off the press. Thanks to Emmithar, for kicking me up off my lazy butt to write this...as well as her guidance to make this comprehendible. You rock, girl!

Please let me know what you think, and thank you to all who read and review...you guys keep me going when I really hit a roadblock and want to give up.

**Seven:**

Nick stared out the window, anxiously tapping his fingers against the glass, if not to only break the silence of the apartment. It had started raining nearly an hour ago, not too long after Sara took off after Greg. The longer they remained gone, the more upset he became with the whole situation.

He knew he should be thinking of an apology, an excuse, something to make this situation a little bit better than it actually was. He had contemplated just leaving, but he felt that would be unfair to Sara, another man running off on her when they had open issues. He wouldn't stoop to Greg's level when it came to Sara's heart.

Even after an hour, he was unable to come up with any words or gestures to show he was sorry, probably because he didn't feel sorry one bit. The longer he sat in Sara's quiet, lonely apartment, the angrier he got at Greg, for putting them in this position again. The longer the rain drops cascaded down the window, the more he wished Greg hadn't interrupted their kiss, that he and Sara had a chance to explore the possibility of being a couple, that he was curled up on the couch with the most beautiful brunette he had ever seen, keeping each other company while the lightning lit the apartment.

And with each minute that passed, he was reminded that when it came to love, he wasn't even a spot on Sara's radar. She had been focused on Greg since the moment he left, and until she had closure with him, she wouldn't open her eyes to any other man.

It wasn't enough that Greg had left in the first place, but then he had to show up again and stir up trouble just when things were getting back to normal. The idea of Sara going back to him was enough to make Nick's stomach clench with rage. She deserved so much better than a man who was going to leave her at a moment's notice, as soon as things got too overwhelming for him.

The front door creaked open, alerting Nick that he wasn't alone anymore. He silently watched as Sara led a tired, pale, shaky Greg into her apartment, shutting the door softly behind them.

Without giving Nick as much as a second glance, she led Greg into her bedroom, shutting the door with a click. With a defeated sigh, Nick walked back to the sofa, flopping onto it and leaning his head against the back cushion. She was so absorbed in Greg that she hadn't even noticed Nick was still here. All he could do, now, was wait for her to return, hopefully without the younger nuisance.

In the bathroom adjoining her bedroom, Sara handed Greg a towel, her eyes still trained on him, "You dry off, I'll find you something to wear."

Greg took the towel, tears still flowing down his cheeks in a light, yet steady, stream, dripping water from his hair wetting the rest of his face. After a few moments of holding the soft pink towel to his face, he realized that they smelled like Sara, like the Sara he had remembered. In fact, the whole apartment did. He looked up to meet her gaze, offering her a weak smile, which she half-heartedly returned.

"I've got some of your boxers and a t-shirt from before you left." Sara offered, placing them on the counter, "Do you need anything?"

Greg shook his head, sending droplets of water flying in every direction, causing Sara to slightly flinch as a cold drop landed on her cheek, "A blow dryer, perhaps?"

"No thanks." Greg murmured, rubbing his hair with the towel, then unbuttoning his pants, "Can I have some privacy?"

Startled, Sara agreed and walked into her bedroom, shutting the door behind her. Of course he'd want privacy, it wasn't like they were dating anymore, he was just a friend who needed some help. The knowledge that he was rightly entitled to feel the need for solitude did nothing to stop the sinking feeling in her chest. This was just another minor, yet painful, reminder that things had definitely changed, and they weren't going to just be able to pick up where they left off.

She looked up eagerly when the bathroom door opened, revealing a Greg similar to the one she remembered from 7 months ago. His hair stood in every direction, held in place by the water that still held on to his hair follicles, despite the towel drying. His face was a bit paler than usual, although the tears had finally stopped flowing. His shaky demeanor was gone, although his posture was still tense as if he was bracing for the worst.

She took him by the hand and led him to her bed, pulling the covers back for him, "I'll sleep on the couch."

"No, please stay." Greg asked hopefully, clinging to her hand, "Please."

Sara shook her head, "I can't. I'll come back, but Nick's in--"

"Fine, go to _Nick_."

The defeated tone in his voice was almost enough to make Sara crawl in bed beside him, but she knew she had damage to control before she could give in to Greg's request.

"It's not that I want to leave you to go to Nick, it's just that he's waiting for me to tell him _something_, and I can't just leave him standing in there all night." Sara protested defensively, "I'll be back in a few minutes and I'll stay as long as you want me to."

The fresh tears glistening in Greg's eyes was his response, and Sara heavily sighed, walking towards the door, "I'll be right back, I promise."

Greg rolled onto his side, ignoring her statement as the door clicked shut behind her. He knew she was doing what she had to do, but it had felt so nice to be taken care of while they walked back to the apartment. He had gone so long without having anyone to emotionally connect with, he just didn't want to see it end so soon. The fact that she was leaving him to talk things over with Nick made him feel ten times worse.

He rolled over onto his back again as the sounds of Nick and Sara's raised voices penetrated the walls of the bedroom. All of a sudden, he felt like he was thirteen years old and living at home once more.

"I can't believe you went after him!" Nick shouted angrily, "After all he's done to you!"

Even from the bedroom, Greg could hear the tears in Sara's voice as she retorted equally angrily, "After all he's done to me? Nick, I got over that a long time ago, what's in the past is done! What about him? What he's going through? Don't you think that everything's affecting him just as much as it's affecting us?"

"Don't fall for that, Sara! You are so naive sometimes! It was his choice to leave, not ours, and he's got to pay the consequences! You can't just baby him and pretend like nothing ever happened, Sara, wake up and face reality here."

There was a long pause, and Greg contemplated getting out of bed to make sure no one had been killed, but the exhaustion from his emotional outburst made it hard for him to even think about moving from Sara's warm, comforting bed.

"I think you need to leave."

Sara's voice was so cold and hard that Greg nearly felt sorry for Nick. His sympathy, however, was short lived as Nick replied heatedly, "So you're going to throw away all of your friendships, again, for that scumbag? Do you remember how badly he hurt you?"

"My decisions are none of your concern." Sara replied, her voice wavering with tears once more.

Nick was quick with a comeback, this time, "It is my concern, because I'm the one who will be picking up the pieces, _again_. He didn't have to see you after you found out he was gone, he didn't have to hold you while you cried, comfort you when you had nightmares, listen when you only need a friend to confide in. He didn't have to watch all of us pick up the pieces of his destruction and move on, he didn't have to deal with any of it!"

"You're wrong." Sara said, her voice barely audible through the apartment walls, "He had to deal with all of it, he still is. It hurt all of us when he left, but we had each other to lean on. He's only one person, he's alone Nick, and it's killing him to know what he put us through. Next time you want to throw stones, try putting yourself in his shoes."

Footsteps echoed through the apartment, and the front door creaked open, "It's time for you to leave."

"Fine, just don't expect me to be your knight in shining armor this time." Nick replied, his voice still angry, as he stormed out of the apartment, slamming the door behind him.

Greg feigned sleep a few moments later as the bedroom door opened, not ready for his own confrontation. He was surprised when the bed shifted beside him, and pleased when she laid down and covered herself up with the remaining covers.

He could tell she was crying by the way the bed shook slightly as she took ragged breaths. More than anything, he wanted to reach out to her and wrap his arms around her to try and chase her demons away, but he knew that it would take time before they were able to get to that stage again.

Tonight, though, he would provide her with the knowledge that he was still here, and when things had gotten rough, he hadn't taken the first plane out of town. Even though it wasn't the comfort he wanted to give her, the peace of mind would surely come as a welcome relief.

* * *

Catherine rinsed yet another bottle, barely able to stop herself from yawning as her eyelids started to droop once again. She glanced suspiciously over at Lindsey, who had offered to help once she finished eating her lunch, something that rarely, if ever, happened without an ulterior motive.

"Are you ready for school to be out?" Catherine asked, popping out the nipple from another bottle, which she had found nestled between two plates, "When I was your age, I couldn't wait until the first day of summer vacation."

"Things really haven't changed that much, then," Lindsey said, hesitating before asking in a much cheerier tone, "So, Mom, there's this field trip coming up in like two weeks, and I really, really, really want to go." Lindsey said, taking a bite of her reheated spaghetti, watching as her mother tiredly loaded the dishwasher, "All of the slots were filled, but Terry Henley got mono and she's going to have to stay home. All of the cool kids are going."

Suddenly, Lindsey's recent behavior began to make a lot of sense, "Are you talking about the trip to Washington D.C.? Lindsey, that's going to take away a month of your summer vacation, do you realize that?"

Lindsey rolled her eyes, "Well, yeah! But it's so cool! We'll learn all about the government and we'll get to see all sorts of historical places. And, there's a 3 day excursion to New York City. Mom, you've got to let me go!"

"I'll have to think about it, Lindsey." Catherine replied, pouring dishwasher powder into the compartment, "It's a long trip, what if you get lonesome?"

Lindsey rolled her eyes again, "Oh, come on Mom. It's a great life experience, _and_ it will help me out with American Government in school next year!"

"There will be chaperones." Warrick added, walking into the room and kissing Catherine on the forehead, "Morning, ladies."

Catherine shut the dishwasher, flipping it on while giving a slight glare to Warrick, "Never side against the mother."

"I just think it would be a great learning experience. I did the summer program when I was her age. It really is a great learning experience, and they're chaperoned 24 hours a day. You can get her a prepaid cell phone so you can call and check up on her, and she's growing up, she could use some time with her friends during the summer, instead of being cooped up with her baby brother." Warrick grinned at Lindsey, "Besides, I need to work on my racing skills, and Lins is always hogging the PS2. When she comes back, all of the top scores will say "WB" instead of "LW"."

Lindsey looked towards Catherine with hopeful eyes, "Oh, please Mom? Rebecca is going, and the whole summer would be a total waste without her. If I don't have any friends left in town, who will entertain me?"

"I said I'd think over it, although, if you keep pestering me about it, I may decide you aren't mature enough to go." Catherine warned, taking Lindsey's plate from the table as Lindsey stood. She placed it in the sink, running water over it while sighed, "When did my little girl start to grow up so fast? A month long trip?"

Warrick wrapped his arms around Catherine from behind, kissing her neck gently, causing her to moan softly, "Just think how nice and quiet it will be when Lindsey's in D.C., Lyle's asleep, and it's only me and you trying to find a way to occupy the time?"

"Isn't that how Lyle came to be?" Catherine purred, leaning her head to the side so Warrick could continue kissing her neckline.

A gagging sound came from the doorway, where Lindsey had just re-entered, "Get a room, guys. That's disgusting, that could be filed as child abuse, you know."

Catherine threw her dishtowel at her daughter, "Don't you have something to be doing?"

"Actually," Lindsey said coyly, sitting down at the kitchen table, "I'm free until you decide if I can go to Washington."

Catherine looked at Warrick, who nodded slightly, then looked at Lindsey, "Oh alright, you can go--" she was cut off by Lindsey's triumphant reaction, then continued, "But we're going to lay some ground rules. You've got to prove you can handle the responsibility for this."

Lindsey jumped up, wrapping her arms around Catherine's next and bouncing excitedly, "Oh, thank you, thank you, thank you! I'll do anything you want, anything! You're the best, Mom! You're the coolest Mom ever!"

As Lindsey bounced out of the room, Catherine was left with a sinking sensation in her stomach. If she was the coolest Mom ever, why did she have the worst feeling about this trip?

* * *

Sara silently crept out of bed, turning off her alarm half an hour before it was supposed to go off. Her mind had been wandering too fast and far for her to fall asleep, and by this point it was useless to even try. She always found that no sleep was better than less than an hour's worth of sleep, anyway.

She tiptoed to the bathroom, trying as hard as possible not to wake up Greg, who had slept fitfully, at best. So many times when he had awoken in a panic, gasping for air, she had wanted to reach out and comfort him, but she knew that if she pushed too hard, too fast, he was liable to hitchhike back to Houston, just to get away. She was determined not to let him get away, this time.

She quietly shut the door behind her, turning the shower on while crossing her fingers that the noise didn't disturb him. She had been relieved to see that her fight with Nick hadn't disturbed Greg, he had been peacefully sleeping when she had crawled into bed with him. She was partially relived to know that he'd never know she had been next to him, the last thing she wanted was for them to be more awkward around each other than they already were.

She had thought for many hours about what Greg had told her in the park the night before, _"Warrick was right. He was absolutely right. I destroy everything."_

Warrick never really talked much about the night Greg left Las Vegas. She had heard some of the details from the others, about Greg and Nick's fight, about Warrick's blow up with Greg, and then Nick, at the hospital. No specifics were ever mentioned, but Warrick wasn't really the type to cross the line while in a fit of anger. Warrick, more than any of the other CSIs, seemed to try to keep his cool in most situations.

She had a feeling that by figuring out what Warrick had told him, she'd find the last puzzle piece to the reason Greg disappeared, to the reason he was as vulnerable as he was now. The problem was finding out what was said. Greg already made it clear he wasn't going to tell her, and Warrick wasn't likely to divulge the information either. He was far too much of a private person to share his personal business with someone who honestly didn't need to know. That left Catherine, who was more likely than not going to keep Warrick's statement a secret, and Nick, who probably wouldn't be speaking to her after their argument.

As she dressed for work, finding out the truth was on the front burner of her mind. Deep down, she knew that once she knew the whole story, she'd be able to find a way to convince him to stay. Sara Sidle was a woman on a mission, and she made a silent vow to not stop until she knew the truth about what happened the night Greg left town.

_TBC_


	8. Chapter 8

_Author's Notes: Sorry this chapter took me so long to get out, it's been a very hectic and strange couple of months, but things are hopefully smoothing out right now. For anyone who was curious (since I've gotten a few emails) I finally got to move into my rebuilt home this month. Ironically, the roof leaks. Lol. I don't know if I should take it as an omen that it's rained more since I've moved back in than it has since the hurricane occurred, but right now I'm just praying that we don't have another one this year, since I was denied both hurricane insurance and flood insurance. Well, I was able to obtain hurricane insurance through a private carrier, which costs an arm and a leg, and has a 7 thousand dollar deductible. _

_Anyway, now that my life has reached some variation of normalcy, I hope to be writing more often. I hope you guys are still reading, and I thank each and every one of you who have expressed your kind thoughts and words during such a difficult 4 months. _

_Let me know what you think, your comments are always appreciated. _

_Jenny_

**Eight:**

He wasn't sure if it was his aching head that roused him from his slumber, or if it was the suffocating feeling in his chest, caused by steadily increasing pressure. Either way, it brought him out of a pleasant dream into harsh reality.

The bright green numbers on Sara's alarm clock wasn't helping the situation. Greg could feel the pounding in his skull intensify as he tried to focus on the blurry numbers. He frowned, groaning as he turned away. Sara should already be at work, gone for several more hours regardless of the actual time. It was rare that she made it home before daybreak, and judging from the darkness of the room, the sun wouldn't rear its head for several more hours.

Part of him was thankful, he wasn't ready to face her yet, he wasn't ready to remember everything that had happened to bring them to this point. Alone, in the dark, he could pretend like none of it had happened, that he hadn't broken down in front of the one woman he always sought to please. He couldn't face the realization that the only thing he truly wanted out of life was now completely out of his grasp.

To make things even more miserable than they already were, he had to live with the knowledge that he had been responsible for everything that had happened over the last few months. If he hadn't been so forceful with Sara, they wouldn't have fought and she wouldn't have been hit by a car. If she wasn't in that accident, he wouldn't have been fighting with Nick. If had hadn't fought with Nick, Warrick wouldn't have told him to leave. If Warrick hadn't said that, he may have stayed in town. After spending months blaming everyone else for his miserable state of being, it all led back to one person, one cause, and his name was Greg Sanders.

As unwilling as he was to face her, he couldn't help but want to be in the presence of her company. She was so caring, so understanding, not to mention beautiful. He was going to have to talk, actually talk, to her sooner or later, and the longer he waited, the harder it would be. The idea of sitting alone in her apartment all night was enough to make him feel crazier than he already felt, stirring up the impulse to run away and retreat to his quiet, lonely life in Texas. Of course, he wouldn't be able to do that, no matter how easy it seemed.

He reached for the phone, dialing half of her cell number before hanging up and groaning. What was he doing? He couldn't just call her and tell her to come home, that wouldn't be fair to anyone. He knew she would come if he asked, but he wasn't going to be that selfish. He could wait until she came home.

Forcing his eyes open, he tried to read the numbers on the clock once more, but the numbers still swam in front of his unfocused eyes. He fished around in Sara's bedside table for a bottle of aspirin that he knew she kept for occasions such as these.

He swallowed the two tiny pills dry, groaning as he rolled onto his back. His head was throbbing unmercifully, and while his chest wasn't necessarily painful, he could tell it was congested just by the way it felt when he tried to breathe deeply. Looking back, maybe spending several hours in the rain wasn't such a good idea.

Deciding a couple more hours of sleep would do him well, Greg rolled over and laid his head close to the pillow Sara had slept on, smiling softly as he inhaled the sweet scent of her perfume.

Sara entered the locker room, determined to find out exactly what had happened between Greg and Warrick before Greg disappeared. She spotted Warrick standing next to his locker, taping up a new picture of Lyle on the inside, and decided that it was time to find out the truth, she wasn't going to live one more moment caught up in lies.

"Warrick, do you have a minute?"

Warrick looked up, giving Sara a warm smile, "Sure Sara, what's up? How long have you been here? You look exhausted already."

"Thanks Warrick, you sure do know how to flatter a woman." Sara replied with a smile, "I actually have something I need to ask you, about the day Greg left."

They both turned towards the entrance when Nick walked in the locker room. As the Texan noticed the other two talking, he stopped and turned around, content to wait until Sara was gone to get ready for work.

"What's going on?" Warrick asked the two, feeling the air thicken with tension, "Did I miss something?"

Sara looked as if she wanted to say something, but didn't have a chance as Nick began to speak, "Sara and Greg are back together--"

"No we aren't, Nick, stop trying to twist the situation around--"

"Brought him home in the pouring rain, and coddled him like a baby--"

"Idiotic assumptions and inappropriate kissing--"

"Forgives everything he ever did to her, and will probably do again--"

"With his holier-than-thou attitude and pessimistic views about everything--"

"Irresponsible and unreasonable, not to mention unreliable--"

"Pompous, arrogant, and spiteful--"

Warrick held up his hands, cutting off both Sara and Nick in the middle of their tirades, "Hold on, I don't want to hear another word. I refuse to get caught in the middle of this debate, and I strongly suggest that the two of you sit down somewhere and talk this out. You are too good of friends to let one night of anger destroy your relationship."

"Sara and I have no relationship to destroy." Nick said icily, turning and walking out of the locker room, leaving a fuming Sara and a still confused Warrick.

Warrick rubbed her arm gently, watching as she tried to cool her anger down and focus on what they had been talking about, "What was it you wanted to ask me?"

"I...I know it's not really much of my business, but it seems to be a real concern with Greg, and I think I need to fully understand the reasons behind his decisions to leave--"

Before she could finish her explanation, Grissom walked into the locker room, "Good, both of you are here. We've got a stabbing victim in McLauren Park, it's about to start raining again, you two better hurry up. Two cars, incase another case comes along, it looks to be the start of a busy shift."

"We'll finish this later." Warrick told Sara as he grabbed his kit, "Let's get out there before the sky opens up again."

XXXXX

Sara pulled up to McLauren park, parking behind Warrick and walking up to where her coworker and the detective were already talking.

"Your victim was a male, early 30s, he's been transported to Desert Palm via air-med, he's in pretty bad shape." Detective Munoz recapped for Sara, "No identification, wallet appears to have been stolen."

"Mugging?" Warrick questioned, glancing over to the blood soaked pavement, "Anything else?"

"No witnesses, the 911 call was anonymous; we traced it back to a payphone from across the street," He pointed over their shoulders, "I've got a court appearance in a few hours, I still need to review the details, can you two handle this on your own?"

Warrick nodded over the thunder, his unease growing as lightning flashed through the sky, "You swab the blood, I'll check the phone booth. We may not have much time before," another flash of lightning filled the air and Warrick gestured to the sky, not needed to complete his statement.

Although she hated being told what to do, Sara knew he was right, and she began to take a blood sample, making sure to also take ample amount of pictures to back up any evidence they may find. Especially in situations where rain was a factor, it was extremely important to document everything, no matter how trivial is seemed at the time. If they needed any information from their crime scene at a later date, photographs would be all they had.

Above her, the sky rumbled once more and the first drop of rain splashed against her face, causing her to quickly gather her possessions and hurry back towards her car. She met with Warrick as they crossed paths, stopping only long enough for him to inform her that he was heading to the hospital. Taking his evidence bag, she decided to head back to the lab and start processing the small quantity of evidence they had been able to obtain.

As she drove in the light rain, she couldn't help but let her thoughts wander to Greg. Things were rapidly changing between them, yet again, causing her to feel like she was caught up in a whirlwind of emotions and fears. Was he feeling the same? Could he be thinking about her the same was she was thinking of him?

She glanced at the clock as she arrived at the lab, hoping that Warrick wouldn't be too long at the hospital, she still hadn't gotten to talk to him about what was said to Greg so many months ago. As much as she wanted to believe she and Greg could work on their relationship, she knew that Greg's insecurities laid in those words Warrick had told him in anger. To get through to Greg, she had to dispel any false notions that Warrick had placed in his head. She had a feeling that even though the last few months had been torture, the worst was still yet to come.

XXXXXX

Sara was impatiently tapping her fingers against the counter in the break room, silently willing the coffee to brew faster, as the rain pounded the building. She groaned as the lights flickered, praying that if the power did go out, it would wait until there was at least one cup of coffee ready.

She pulled out her cell phone to check on Greg, cursing softly as she realized the battery was dead. She frowned as she placed it on the counter, it was odd that her battery would die in the middle of a shift, she usually charged it every night. With a sigh, she left her coffee pot vigil and went to her locker, in search of a spare battery. In the back of her mind, she remembered having a spare in her kit, but she couldn't remember seeing it recently enough to be sure.

She made it halfway down the hallway when the lights went out, causing her to trip over what she presumed was a chair in the hallway, landing face-down on the floor, her hands breaking her fall, as the air was knocked out of her chest.

"Are you okay?" Catherine's concerned voice asked, her slender hand reaching out to pull Sara to her feet. "I'm so sorry, I wasn't watching where I was going."

Okay, maybe she hadn't tripped over a chair after all.

"This is some storm we're having," Sara said softly, "I can only remember one other time where the weather knocked out our power."

Catherine was silent as she remembered the tense time following the accident she and Sara had been in several years earlier, "I remember." That freak accident, combined with the night Eddie died, caused her heart to race every time they had a storm of this magnitude. She sighed, "When it rains, it pours."

"How very cliche of you, Catherine." Sara smirked, "I guess this means that I'll have to forego coffee for awhile, I was really starting to look forward to that sludge Ecklie buys."

Catherine walked beside Sara as the brunette made her way to the locker room, concerned by her friend's overall cheerful disposition.

"I don't mean to be rude, Sara, but why are you still here?" Catherine asked, her voice taking on a motherly and concerned tone, "I know if my best friend was in the hospital, even if he was an ex-boyfriend, I'd be sticking to him like glue."

Even in the dim light of the emergency backup lights, Catherine could see Sara's face pale, "Sar? Didn't Warrick call you?"

"What do you mean?" Sara's shaky voice asked as she nervously toyed with her lock, "What ex-boyfriend?"

"Oh my God, Sara, I'm so sorry. I thought you knew." Catherine said quietly, her hand reaching out to Sara's shoulder, "Warrick called me, I just assumed he had called you--"

"Cell battery is dead." Sara said softly, trembling slightly, "Greg?"

Catherine squeezed Sara's shoulder gently, "I'm sorry Sara, Greg was your vic in the park. He's still in surgery, the doctor hasn't been able to give Warrick much information so far."

Sara sank onto the bench, her heart skipping a few beats. What was Greg doing in the park, alone, in the middle of the night? Who would want to hurt Greg? Was he going to be okay?

She turned to face Catherine, who was watching her with a sad expression. Her eyes met the blonde's, and she asked quietly, "Will you drive me there?"

"Of course I will. Let's get out of here." Catherine said soothingly, pulling her keys out of her pocket and following the brunette, who was already halfway across the locker room. As they darted through the rain to Catherine's car, the older woman couldn't help but pray Greg would be okay, for everyone's sake.

TBC


	9. Chapter 9

_Hello again, all. Here you go, the second to last chapter of Shadows...if I don't get any feedback, I may just leave it here. Huge, gigantic thanks to Emmithar, not only for keeping me interested and nagging me ten thousand times a day to write, but for telling me how awful my bits and pieces were. _

_This is quite possibly the longest chapter I've ever written...there's one more left, then anything left hanging in the balance will be resumed in the sequel, entitled "Betrayal"._

_Comments are appreciated and adored!_

_Jenny_

Nine:

Sara stared out the window, her head racing with a million and one questions about Greg and what had happened tonight. In the distance, she could hear Catherine's voice, but it was too detached to even make out the words she was speaking. With every raindrop that fell on the window ledge, a new concern entered her mind.

What was Greg doing outside? He was supposed to be at home, sleeping. Why hadn't she stayed to make sure he would be okay? They had shared such an intense night, why had she assumed he would just bounce back and be okay? She had been crazy to leave him by himself. The more she mulled over it, the more certain she was that she had made a mistake by leaving him alone. Maybe this whole thing was partially her fault.

She felt her lip quiver, but forced her tears to remain unshed, this wasn't the time to have a pity party, Greg needed her to be focused and calm once the doctors had done their job. Once they did what they had to do, she would be able to collect any remaining evidence, and see for herself that he was going to be okay. He had to be okay. They had been through so much already, she couldn't have brought him back just for him to die. At the thought of Greg dying, she slightly shuddered, wrapping her arms around herself tightly. Death was not an option.

Catherine watched as Sara's eyes filled with tears, her own heart breaking for her friend. Sara had been an emotional wreck after Greg had left, and just when she finally got her life in order, he had returned and turned her life upside down again. How much more could one couple take? One woman?

She hadn't agreed with Greg's decision to pack up and leave without a notice to anyone, but she had to admire the way he had come back to fix his wrongdoings, no matter how challenging it was. Something inside Greg had changed, and while she didn't know what had caused the change, everyone could see the difference in the way he presented himself. Gone was the kid who used to play practical jokes in the hallway, who used to have a crush the size of the Pacific Ocean on Sara. He had left with a broken soul, and come back with a tortured one. Of course, the one person who should have--and needed to--notice the change was still waiting for the old Greg to resurface. If only it were that simple.

Catherine gently touched Sara's wrist, getting the brunette's attention, "Will you be okay if I head home? Warrick will wait here with you."

Sara gave a slight shrug, barely moving her gaze from the window. Catherine watched helplessly as Sara retreated further into herself, her slender body trembling every so often. She liked to think she knew the brunette better than most, they had been through some very trying times together, and she had gained a lot of insight on her younger friend. She knew that behind Sara's tough exterior was an uncertain and apprehensive girl who sometimes needed to be reassured and comforted just like everyone else.

Reluctant to leave her friend, she slowly walked towards Warrick, who was staring at the coffee pot with a troubled expression on his face. Rubbing his shoulder, she whispered softly, "Hey, you okay?"

"Define okay." Warrick replied tensely, gripping the coffee pot's handle tightly, "He may not live here anymore, but he's still one of our own."

"Baby, I hate to do this, but I've got to go...I promised Lindsey I'd have breakfast with her this morning, and you know how Lyle gets..." Catherine whispered softly, her hand gently brushing against Warrick's cheek, "Call me when you hear something, okay?"

Warrick wrapped his arms around her, inhaling the sweet citrus scent of her shampoo, "Give them both a hug for me. As soon as I know something, I'll pass it along."

"Keep an eye on Sara," Catherine added, stealing a glance at her friend, "She's not taking this too well. She's not as tough as she wants us to believe."

Warrick sighed, "Can you blame her? First her accident, then he leaves, he finally comes home and this happens...I'd be having a hard time swallowing it too."

"Just watch out for her, and try to remember that she's not just here for a friend or a case, she loves him."

-----

The first recognizable feeling he had was an extreme sense of panic. It wasn't often that he woke up and didn't know where he was, or how he got there. The last thing he remembered was curling up to sleep next to Sara, but that felt like it had happened centuries ago, and while he wasn't sure what was going on, this bed definitely wasn't Sara's.

He almost relaxed, assuming that the trying events of the past few days had been an intense dream and Sara hadn't really found him living in Texas. The obvious conclusion was that he had gotten drunk and passed out, imagining everything. As he slowly came around, however, he realized he wasn't in his own bed either.

If he wasn't dreaming, and he wasn't at Sara's, where did that leave him? Not even his wildest nightmare had left him in this much pain before, and a dream wouldn't explain where he was.

His eyes felt heavy, as if they were coated with lead, and the harder he tried to open them, the more tired he felt. Painful bright lights assaulted him the moment he weakly managed to blink open his eyes. The lights, however, were the least of his concern as another wave of excruciating pain soared through every fiber of his weakened body.

Above him stood a stunningly beautiful blonde, her green eyes warm and caring, "Mr. Sanders? Can you hear me?"

He was only able to moan in response, his mind racing as he replayed the last events he remembered through his mind... He had gotten up, his head throbbing painfully, and had taken a few aspirin to relieve some of the pain. After an hour of fitfully tossing and turning in bed, he had taken a hot shower, only to find that he felt worse exiting the shower than he had entering. As a last resort, he had decided a walk might clear his head, and had left a note for Sara saying he was going for a walk through the park. The last thing he had wanted was for her to arrive home, find him gone, and assume the worst. After that, everything was a mystery.

The divine blonde stroked his hair gently, "Mr. Sanders? You've just gone through a pretty serious operation. Your sedatives are starting to wear off, but I've already added some pain medication to your IV, it should start to take effect soon. You've been through a rough ordeal, but there's no reason why you shouldn't be okay."

Greg moaned again, trying in vain to move his arms or legs, only to be disappointed when no progress at all was made.

"Try to relax, your medication will start to kick in soon. When you start feeling better, we'll move you to a room and you can have a few visitors. You have a few very worried friends waiting for you."

Greg let his eyes fall closed, too tired to protest as the nurse checked the tubes and needles attached to his bruised body. He heard her footsteps heading away from him and towards another patient who was starting to come to, and as fatigue overtook him, he was vaguely aware of monitors starting to go haywire as an alarm sounded.

----

The silence was deafening as the clock slowly ticked away each second that passed, the sound only reminding both Sara and Warrick that the still had no information on their friend.

Sara rubbed her eyes tiredly; what on earth had possessed her to go to work and leave Greg home alone after going through such a rough night? He was in a difficult position, he needed comfort, company, reassurance, and instead of helping him, she had left him alone so she could go to work.

Was her job really that important to her? Would it have killed her to take one night off to care for Greg? Sure, he may not need to be babied, but they had a lot of things that needed to be discussed and resolved, and now they may never have that chance.

Deep down she knew that she had no choice but to go to work. Like Greg, she had some ideas and issues that needed to be worked through, and she wouldn't have been able to do that staying home with him. She usually thought better while at work, the environment made her able to separate facts from feelings, and right now she desperately needed to do that. So many issues had been brought up, and it wasn't until that moment that she had realized he had gone through a loss just as she had when he left.

She couldn't have prevented Greg from being attacked, and she knew it was wrong to try to place the blame anywhere but in the attacker's hands. The more she thought about it, though, the more she concluded that if Greg hadn't moved, he would have still been working for the lab, not walking alone through McLauren Park, distracted, upset, and a perfect target.

She sighed, running her fingers through her hair as she stretched out her legs, groaning as the sudden return of blood flow made them tingle. If Greg hadn't left Vegas...that statement alone brought her mind back to their talk the night before.

She let her gaze drift to Warrick, calling his name softly.

Warrick's tired eyes met her own, a silent question gracing his features as he waited for her to continue.

"What happened between you and Greg the night he left? Last night...well, last night he told me a lot of things, and your name sort of came up." Sara said quietly.

"There's not much to tell, we got into an argument, people argue all the time." He muttered, almost incoherently, as he turned away.

Sara pressed further, knowing that there had to be more than Warrick was letting on, "That's it? That's not how Greg sees it...he said you were right about something, he just wouldn't tell me what it was."

"I'd rather not discuss it...this isn't the time nor the place." Warrick said, his voice giving her a quiet warning.

Sara sighed loudly, "If it wasn't anything, why won't you talk to me about it?"

"It's none of your business!" Warrick replied angrily, pushing himself to his feet and walking across the room, "Leave it alone, Sara."

"You've got something to hide, don't you? Something happened between the two of you that you're both too ashamed to talk about."

"Sara, drop it." Warrick warned, "You don't want to get into this right now."

"I don't, or you don't?" Sara challenged.

Warrick shook his head, "I'm not going to get into this with you." He said cooly, throwing his used cup into the trash with more force than was necessary, his hands clenching.

"So that's it? You're just going to leave? We don't even know if Greg, your friend, is going to live or die, and you're going to just walk out on him?"

Warrick turned back to face the angry brunette, "You didn't seem to mind him walking out on you."

"He is trying to fix his mistakes. I'm giving him a second chance. Would it kill you to do the same?" Sara asked, hurt and anger apparent in her trembling voice.

Warrick shook his head with a wry smile, "He's past second chances, but if you want to trust him again, baby him and coddle him, go ahead, but don't expect us to pick up the pieces when he leaves you again. He will leave again, once a coward, always a coward."

"He isn't going to leave again." Sara replied bitterly, her voice stronger than she actually felt.

Warrick walked towards the door, stopping to look at her briefly, "Why else would he be walking through the park in the middle of the night?"

"Rule number one, Warrick, never assume anything." Sara said icily, "If you expect the worst of someone, they'll never disappoint you."

"And if you put someone on a pedestal, you're going to get your heart broken." Warrick said quietly, walking out of the room without a second glance to the trembling brunette.

Once alone, Sara collapsed onto the plastic chair once more, fighting to keep her tears at bay. He couldn't have been leaving, not after everything they had shared. Warrick had to be wrong, Greg couldn't have been leaving. He just couldn't have been, it didn't make any sense.

The door creaked open and Sara hurriedly brushed away her tears, unsure of why she expected to see Warrick's face, after the argument they had just had. Instead, she was met with an unfamiliar face, looking intently in the room for something. Perhaps it was someone from dayshift, with questions on the case...but considering they hadn't handed over the case, it was an unlikely possibility.

"Excuse me," the girl spoke in a soft Southern drawl, "I'm looking for information on a Greg Sanders. They told me he was still in surgery, but that there was a room I could wait in down here, I hope this is the right place."

Sara's first instinct was to say no. Something about this strange woman rubbed her the wrong way, making her weary about letting her get close to Greg. A paranoid feeling deep in her stomach told her that this wasn't some long-lost friend of Greg's, it was clear he had another life in Texas, this very well may be that other life.

"This is the right place." Sara said cautiously, watching as relief filled the young woman's features as she took off her shawl and laid down her giant brown and red purse, "I don't think I've met you before. My name is Sara--"

"Sidle. Sara Sidle. I'd recognize you anywhere." the girl gushed, pulling out a bottle of water from her purse, "Greg talked about you day in and day out."

Sara frowned, she was too warm and friendly to be a girlfriend, so who the hell was she?

"How do you know Greg?" Sara asked, her tone a little harsher than she intended.

The girl's eyes widened and she covered her mouth with her hand, "Oh my Gosh, I'm sorry, I forgot to introduce myself. I'm always getting carried away with myself, I never think to stop and use my common sense, people tell me all the time that I need to gather my thoughts before speaking...you must think I'm a total couyon. My name is Angelle, Angelle Orgeron. I'm a friend of Greg's from back home."

"Back home?" Sara asked pointedly, "You mean Texas?"

Angelle nodded, taking a sip of her water before replacing the cap, "Greg and I are very close, we met while he was staying in New Orleans. He mentioned going to Texas, and I thought I'd pop along for the ride, my family is gone, there was nothing tying me down in the city. He's a wonderful man."

"I know." Sara replied evenly, hating herself for the blatant jealousy that had began to pump through her veins. Texas was not Greg's home, Las Vegas was. And what did this girl mean by "very close"? Where they dating, sleeping together, business partners? And how did she know that Greg was even in the hospital? Weariness of the Southern girl quickly gave way to suspicion, as Sara's mind kicked into "work mode". Something about Angelle was rubbing her the wrong way, and she was going to find out exactly what it was.

Angelle fidgeted with her purse strap, sighing heavily, "I wish we were back home, if something like this had happened to Greg at home, I'd have my supplies and we'd know he was being taken care of." Off of Sara's curious look, she continued, "I'm a traiteur."

"A traiteur?" Sara asked, weariness over the girl giving way to natural curiosity.

"A healer. It's a gift that has been passed down through my family for many generations, I was fortunate to learn from my PawPaw before he died."

"A healer? Like a faith healer?" Sara asked, raising her eyebrows, "No offense, but I don't think you could have done too much for Greg, not for something as serious as surgery."

Angelle smiled slightly, shaking her head, "You wouldn't understand, your mind isn't open enough. Prayer alone won't heal the injured, being a traiteur is a frame of mind, something that encompasses your body as a whole. Some treatment comes from spiritual prayer, some comes from cures and remedies that have been passed down from generation to generation, some comes from the gris-gris, some is actual medical knowledge. You have to learn to combine these practices and use them to treat the ill. I've treated over 1,000 people."

"That's a good story, but without the knowledge of modern medicine, the world wouldn't be what it is today." Sara replied, letting science back her up. The idea of spiritual healing and voodoo were something she considered legend, at best.

Angelle flashed Sara a mysterious smile, leaning back against her chair, "That's exactly what Greg said to me, until I treated him for an earache. Poor thing was in terrible pain, and the doctor couldn't see him for two days, so I cured him. Since then, he hasn't argued in the credibility of traiteurs."

"Okay." Sara replied, drawing her knees to her chest as she again watched anxiously for the doctor. Angelle was now boring her, and Sara wasn't going to be preached to over something that she couldn't possibly believe in.

The room was silent for a few moments before Angelle spoke again, "Las Vegas is nothing like I've ever seen before. I hope that after Greg is feeling better, he can take me to some of the casinos, I've never seen anything this...grand...before."

"It's all a show, that's all Vegas is. People living and acting larger than life, when in reality, all that separates them from any other person in the world is a wad of cash in their pocket." Sara replied, her tone bitter, "I wish they'd tell us something on his condition."

Angelle nodded, "When I arrived and found he was still in surgery, I was surprised, it's not exactly a hop, skip, and jump from Texas to Nevada."

"How did you find out about Greg?" Sara asked, unable to quell her curiosity any longer, also unable to keep the suspicion out of her voice, "Did Warrick call you?"

"Warrick?" Angelle questioned, "No, it was a woman from the hospital. I'm Greg's emergency contact, when we were living together, it seemed like a good idea."

"You two lived together?" Sara asked, her voice strained as she stood and walked away from the other woman. It was hurting her a lot more than she had expected to hear that Greg had moved on without her while he was away.

Angelle smiled warmly, pulling a picture of her and Greg out of her purse, "We lived together for a little over three months, neither of us went to Houston with any definite plans, and apartments are so much more expensive there than in New Orleans, so we split the cost until we were both stable enough to be on our feet. He's an absolute gem to live with, kind, generous, not to mention handsome. He really has what it takes to get a woman going, of course, you already know that."

Icy coldness seized Sara's stomach as Angelle's words became embedded in her brain. Was this why Greg had been reluctant to come back to Vegas with her? Had he already moved on with another woman? So he hadn't been as lonely and miserable as she herself had been. That wasn't even the worst of it, the worst was that he hadn't told her. Then again, why should he have? He hadn't told her anything else, why was anything a surprise at this point?

She remained silent, knowing that if she looked at the other woman, it would only add fuel to the fire raging inside her or cause her to break down in tears. She wasn't going to give Greg's new girlfriend the satisfaction.

Her irritation turned to nervous fear when the door opened and a weary nurse walked in, a silver clipboard in hand. She rifled through the papers, a solemn look on her face, "I have some news on your friend, poor dear."

"News?" Sara asked, a sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach, "How did the surgery go?"

Angelle rose to her feet, standing next to Sara as they both waited with baited breath to hear on their friend's condition. The nurse pursed her lips, shaking her head slowly, "I'm sorry girls, he coded in the recovery wing just a few minutes ago, we still aren't sure exactly what happened."

TBC


	10. Chapter 10

_Finally, we have reached the end of this saga...if you like what you see and you want to see a continuation, it only takes a few clicks to leave me a reply and ask/bribe/beg for a sequel. _

_Huge thanks to Emmithar for hating every line I had and forcing me to try harder than the effort I originally put in. You can thank her for the story actually ending, because I contemplated trashing it more than once. And darn it, as many times as I've tried to give her this story, she just wouldn't write it for me without a monetary bribe. Girl, you're awesome..._

_Enjoy and let me know what you think!_

_Jenny_

**Shadows: Chapter Ten:**

Sara angrily paced around the waiting room, shaking her head as the image of that half-brained twit popped into her head. If anyone should be visiting Greg right now, it should be her, not that backwoods freak, Angelle.

The nurse had come in with horrible news, all but telling them that Greg had passed away, only for the two girls to find out that she had been talking about another patient. Her Greg had come out of surgery nearly an hour ago, and was resting comfortably in his own room. Surgery had been touch-and-go, so they were waiting to make sure he was going to remain stable before releasing any information.

Sara wasn't sure how, but Angelle had managed to use her "power" as emergency contact and next of kin to weasel her way into being the only visitor allowed in Greg's room. Greg had refused all visitors, but Angelle had charmed her way past the nurses station, which was as far as Sara had been able to get.

Sara, in the meantime, had tried every tactic to be granted admission, starting with the obvious; she needed to look for evidence, she was still working the case. Angelle had been quick to inform the medical staff, as well as Sara, that Greg would not be pressing charges.

Knowing that Greg would want the person who did this to him brought to justice, Sara had initially argued with the sickeningly sweet witch, trying to use her own stubbornness to her advantage. She knew Greg better than anyone; better than any of their coworkers, definitely better than this half-wit, and quite possibly better than Greg even knew himself. She had been angered when Angelle threatened to call her supervisor, not only Grissom, but Ecklie as well. Sara backed off, reluctantly, watching with growing envy and resentment as Angelle walked towards Greg's room, her hips swaying softly.

Sara walked to the window, staring at the hazy morning, a scowl on her face. She thought she knew Greg better than anyone, but the Greg she knew wouldn't have jumped from their relationship to one with that backwoods witch in just a few months. There had to be something more to the story, but if she couldn't get Angelle out of the way, she would never be able to figure out what it was.

The overhead lights were dim, but even then she could see how pale and fragile he looked. The doctors had reassured her that he was going to be fine, his body was worn down from a previous illness. Of course, being drenched in the cold rain and his brutal beating hadn't helped his situation much, and he was now on the verge of pneumonia.

Angelle shook her head angrily, she had told him not to return to Vegas. "Sin City" was an understatement. Bad things seemed to target Greg here; she had heard the stories about the lab explosion several years back, the night he was held at gunpoint and his 'precious Sara' came to his rescue, the hit-and-run accident that drove him away.

---

How could this have happened? He was only in town for a few short days, with people who supposedly cared about him. For the six months he had been in perfect health, even the few bouts of depression she had endured with him hadn't landed him in the hospital. With Sara, he was having surgery within a matter of days. How could the woman who claimed to love him let him wind up so sick and weak?

She stroked his hand gently, placing her lips on his forehead. She had been the one to care for him during his spells of depression, just as he had been the one to care for her when she had no where else to go. They had formed a strong bond, and she wasn't going to let those backstabbers come in here and replace her. They had done nothing but hurt him over the years they had gotten the privilege to know him; Nick and Warrick with their harsh words, Sara with her fickleness over their relationship...she wasn't going to let that happen again.

Greg began to moan, blinking open his eyes and whispering, "Sara?"

"Shh, shh," she whispered with a frown as Greg looked around the room anxiously, "It's okay, Pigeon, Angie's here."

Greg's eyes slowly blinked open, and he used his free hand to tiredly rub them, his face masked in confusion, "Angelle? Is that you?"

"It's okay, I'm here. Lay back and relax, you're in the hospital, there was an accident. I'm going to take care of you though, you'll be fine my pigeon."

Greg stifled a yawn, rubbing his eyes and asking again, "Sara?"

"She came earlier, she didn't stay. She seemed pretty upset with you, I don't think she'll be coming back." Angelle said gently, stroking his hand, "You don't need her, Greg, I'll take care of you."

Pain flashed through Greg's eyes, "She was here and she didn't stay?"

"You don't need her, baby, if she doesn't care enough to be here waiting for you to wake up, she's making it pretty clear that she's over you." She paused, trying to remember the whole back story of Greg and Sara's relationship. She had learned so much about each of Greg's old colleagues that she felt as if she already knew them. The name she was searching for came to her and she blurted out, "She was here with some guy...Nick, I think she called him...they left together."

"Nick?" Greg replied hoarsely, blinking back tears, "How long have I been here?"

Angelle stroked his hair gently, "Overnight, baby, you had an accident in the park and banged yourself up pretty good. The doctors also said you had severe lung congestion, why didn't you tell me you were sick when I called you yesterday? Why didn't you go to the doctor? Was Sara too busy to take you?"

"No!" Greg replied as forcefully as he could manage, "She's been nothing but great to me...I thought it was just a cold or the flu, otherwise I would have gotten it checked out."

Angelle squeezed his hand, skepticism evident on her face. After all Sara had put him through, he was still defending her. She gently brushed a strand of hair from his forehead, "I was so worried about you when I got the call. I knew coming back here was a bad idea."

"You didn't need to come, you shouldn't have come." Greg said, the fog slowly lifting from his brain, "Angelle, I thought we agreed to take a break from each other for awhile."

Angelle pouted, taking his hand, "That was before you had to have major emergency surgery, pigeon, there's nowhere else I'd rather be. Besides, if I weren't here, you'd be all alone right now."

"You do have a point." Greg agreed, "No one else came? Warrick, Catherine? Grissom?"

Angelle shook her head slowly, managing to pull off a sorry expression once Greg's own gaze grew suspicious, "Sorry boo, I know how much you want their approval."

"I don't need anyone's approval." Greg said as strongly as he could manage with the pain he was in, "I don't care if they were here or not."

Angelle leaned over, softly kissing his forehead, "If that's what you want to think, you go ahead and think it honey." She let her lips trail down his bruised cheek, until finally reaching his pale lips.

------

Sara carefully crept down the hallway, looking for Greg's room. The nurses were in the middle of shift change, and for once, she didn't think she'd be caught if she tried to get in to see Greg. She took a quick glance down the hallway as she approached Greg's room, giving a relieved sigh as she turned the doorknob.

She was about to push the door open when she looked through the window just in time to see Angelle and Greg's lips meet.

Sara rushed down the hall, slamming the button for the elevator as she tried in vain to fight her tears. The doors opened and she stumbled in, pressing the button for the first floor, her shoulders shuddering as she pictured Angelle and Greg's kiss. She leaned against the side wall, covering her face with her hands as she inhaled deeply and tried to calm herself down.

She didn't do this. She didn't have minor breakdowns in public places. She didn't cry over men, especially those who weren't hers to claim. She didn't come between men and their girlfriends. She didn't pine over guys who clearly weren't interested anymore. She didn't cry in elevators. At least, she had never do so before.

With Greg, everything was different.

The doors opened on the main floor and she hurriedly fled the elevator, anxious to get out of the hospital, even though she had no way of getting home on her on, seeing as how Catherine had driven her. She had to get out of that sterile white hell, away from that southern twit, away from the man who repeatedly broke her heart.

She didn't realize she had collided with another person until she fell to the floor, too overwhelmed to stop her tears as she began to earnestly sob, scrambling to her feet in a futile effort to escape. She finally looked up as a hand was placed on her shoulder, coming eye to eye with one of the many infuriating men in her life.

Nick pulled her into a hug, rubbing her back gently as he tried to soothe her, "Is he...?"

"He's going to be fine." Sara sobbed, clinging to the Texan as she released her self control and let him take over. "There's another woman."

"I'm sorry." Nick replied, holding her tightly as she began to tremble, "God, Sara, I'm so sorry." He stroked her hair gently, his anger growing at Greg once more as he listened to Sara's heartfelt cries. After all of the trouble he had stirred up coming back to Vegas, he had another girlfriend the whole time? Just when he thought he had figured the younger man out, he did something to totally blow him out of the water.

They remained in each other's arms for a few minutes before Sara pulled away, wiping her eyes as she laughed dryly, "It seems like we always end up this way, doesn't it?"

_The End...if you want a sequel, let me know in a reply!_


End file.
